Aedan: 53 Months, Week 5
Owen: 12 Months, Week 3 (Week 55)
This week started off with a rather busy Sunday. We got Owen to take a little nap in the morning before heading to church, and then we had a college lunch after church. We brought a pasta dish to share, cooked in our Instant Pot, and it was a good thing to make an appearance at. Owen was getting pretty tired, and he wasn't interested in eating any of the food that they had there, so he didn't have too much for lunch. I think he was just tired and ready for bed. We got home a little later because of the lunch, and I got Owen to sleep as quickly as I could so that he could have a good nap before small group that evening. We are having trouble getting our group going, as several families have had to back out for various reasons. We are the only group that has broken off from our old small group without at least a few families to start it off. We are basically starting from scratch, so hopefully we will get there. Even though it was only one other family and us, we still had good conversation, and I think it went pretty well.
Then, it was back into another week of school and obligations. Weekends just fly by during the school year. Really, time just flies by so much faster because we are so much busier and everyone is going their own separate ways with school and activities. There have been several times lately that it all has felt too much for me, and I want to just pull out of everything and just keep everyone at home. There are times I wish I was homeschooling so that I could have my kids closer for longer. Samantha is gone so long during the school day and then our evenings are gone in the blink of an eye. Christy sent me the picture below on Monday, and it definitely made me feel nostalgic. Sometimes I miss the kids being so little: Samantha still looking like a preschooler, and Aedan still holding on to his baby features. Sometimes I miss Aedan being so little and needing me so much, falling asleep in my lap at nap time every day, and crying if someone else other than me put him to bed. He's grown up so fast and is looking so school-aged now. He still curls up in my lap occasionally, and I love it. These are the reasons I love to do this blog because it helps me remember these moments, the joy and the pain, the highs and the lows, and all the precious memories we make as we raise our kids.
After taking Aedan to preschool, Owen didn't need to take a nap right when we got home since he had taken a later nap that morning, so I just had Owen hang out with me while I changed sheets and did laundry. Then, I tried getting him down for another nap before we had to leave to pick the kids up from school. After school, things were busy with Samantha finishing up homework and I was trying to get Aedan to eat quickly before hockey so that he didn't have to wait until after 6:30 to eat dinner. There was a PAC (Parent's Advisory Council) meeting at Samantha's school at 5:30, and Ben and I want to be more involved in PAC this year, so we want to make it a point for at least one of us to attend these monthly meetings. So I dropped Ben and Aedan off at the Big Bear so he could get dressed and ready for hockey lessons, while I took Samantha and Owen with me to school. They provided pizza, salad, cookies, and drinks for dinner. I fed Owen some baby food before we left so that I could ensure that he would have enough to eat. I tried giving him little pieces of pizza, but he didn't seem too interested in eating any of that. However, he was perfectly content hanging out in the stroller watching all the commotion around him while Samantha and I ate our dinner. They provide childcare during these meetings which is also wonderful, and I was a little worried at how Owen would do with all the kids that were much older than him, but I told Samantha to watch out for her little brother for me. Apparently at first they split the older kids up from the younger kids, so Samantha wasn't with Owen. Then, she went in to check on him, and he got upset when she tried to leave. She had to stay in the room and play with him to keep him from crying. She is such a good big sister though, and he cheered up right away having her around.
After the meeting was over we rushed back over to the Big Bear to pick up Aedan and Ben and went straight home to get the kids ready for bed. Aedan was pretty nervous about hockey and didn't remember how to stand up on his skates, so he spent a lot of time just sitting or laying down on the ice, waiting for a coach to come over and help him, and not really wanting to try, which was frustrating to Ben. Afterwards, it made us wonder if he really was ready for hockey, or if we should just try again next year. We just wanted him to try, and sometimes it seems difficult for our kids to realize that you have to put work into things and you can't learn how to do something hard right away. We will definitely try it again next week, and we were trying to stay positive and not be too hard on him about it, but it was definitely a rough start during his first practice.
Tuesday morning was Bible study at church, and it was another really good meeting. We introduced ourselves by talking about our hardest challenge in parenting right now, and then we watched the video and had a really good discussion. The video focused a lot on making sure your relationship as a couple was strong so that you could set that example for your kids. It was really good to talk and hear others' input, helping me to know that I'm definitely not alone in how I feel as a mom sometimes.
The rest of the day went by like normal with lunch, getting Aedan to preschool, and then getting Owen down for a nap. I was glad that he took a good nap, especially since our neighbor girl, Calla, was going to come over to our house to help watch Owen while I took Samantha and Aedan to gymnastics. With it being her first time, she was still a little nervous so she wanted her mom to come with her and help her out. Owen was actually still sleeping when I left, which was good. I was glad that I didn't have to wake him up to go pick up the big kids. He did well for Calla and her mom, even though he didn't really know them, and it was really nice for me to be able to just sit and watch the big kids at gymnastics without having to chase Owen around the whole time. Here are some videos of the kids from gymnastics that evening.
The rest of the day went by like normal with lunch, getting Aedan to preschool, and then getting Owen down for a nap. I was glad that he took a good nap, especially since our neighbor girl, Calla, was going to come over to our house to help watch Owen while I took Samantha and Aedan to gymnastics. With it being her first time, she was still a little nervous so she wanted her mom to come with her and help her out. Owen was actually still sleeping when I left, which was good. I was glad that I didn't have to wake him up to go pick up the big kids. He did well for Calla and her mom, even though he didn't really know them, and it was really nice for me to be able to just sit and watch the big kids at gymnastics without having to chase Owen around the whole time. Here are some videos of the kids from gymnastics that evening.
Once getting back home and having dinner, it was bath time for the kids. Aedan and Owen decided to both wear Batman pajamas so they could match each other. I tried to have them sit together so I could get a picture, but it was a little bit difficult to get them both still and looking. Here's what I got:
Owen continues to do pretty well at night, for which I am extremely grateful. He usually goes to sleep fairly easily nursing, and then he wakes up once a night, usually around 3:00 or 4:00, occasionally earlier than that. The only new thing he has been doing lately is that he won't always fall asleep nursing, especially at the beginning of the night. Sometimes I can just rock him and he will fall asleep, but other times I have to stand up and walk around with him to get him to fall asleep. He usually conks out pretty quickly on my shoulder, but it does make me wonder sometimes how long he will prefer to fall asleep like this, because I am not going to always be able to hold him as easily as he gets heavier and longer.
With how much Owen has been fighting taking morning naps, I wasn't even going to bother trying to put him down for a nap on Wednesday morning. However, as Aedan and I were playing in the basement, playing trains and building with the soft foam blocks that came with his work bench, Owen was just crying and rubbing his face all over me, like he was tired and wanted to sleep. So I decided to take him in his room and try and put him down for a nap for a little while. I got him to sleep and walked around with him for 15 minutes, but as soon as I laid him down, he woke up screaming and crying. I just didn't get it, so I didn't even try to get him back to sleep, I just got him up and we went to the library for story time.
When we got back home, Owen was super tired, and I was trying to make lunch. Aedan usually requests mac and cheese on Wednesdays because I have extra time to make it. However, Owen was being clingy, so I asked Aedan to get some toys to play with Owen. He went in his room and brought his whole bag of Hot Wheel cars out into the kitchen. The boys then had a blast playing with the cars all over the kitchen floor while I made lunch. It kept Owen happy, it kept Aedan occupied, and I got lunch ready much faster.
When we got back home, Owen was super tired, and I was trying to make lunch. Aedan usually requests mac and cheese on Wednesdays because I have extra time to make it. However, Owen was being clingy, so I asked Aedan to get some toys to play with Owen. He went in his room and brought his whole bag of Hot Wheel cars out into the kitchen. The boys then had a blast playing with the cars all over the kitchen floor while I made lunch. It kept Owen happy, it kept Aedan occupied, and I got lunch ready much faster.
Wednesday nights are a little more relaxed, even though Samantha and Aedan go to AWANA. We are able to eat dinner together as a family before dropping the kids off at AWANA. This week, Ben and I decided to do some clothes shopping together, since we just had Owen. We both were in need of some new things, so we went to TJ Maxx and Kohl's, pretty much the main shopping stores in our town. Owen cooperated pretty well for us, and it was nice to just hang out with each other. I was able to put Owen down for bed while Ben went out to get the big kids from AWANA. It was a rainy night and as we sat in the living room after putting the kids to bed; you could just hear it pouring and thundering outside. We don't get many thunderstorms up here, so it was kind of weird to hear. Fall is definitely our rainy season, and I feel like it's been raining almost every day lately. Once the rain stopped in the middle of the night, we were supposed to have strong winds, so I hoped that it didn't get too bad that our power would go off. I always enjoy listening to rain and storms, and I'm grateful we have a nice warm, safe house to give us shelter. (And our power never went out.)
Thursday was a big day for Aedan because it was his first field trip. His preschool was taking a trip to the farm, and I arranged for Linda and Ken to come to our house to watch Owen for me so that I could go with Aedan on his field trip. I enjoyed taking Samantha on field trips, and I don't want to miss out on having that experience with Aedan as well. They were going in the morning, so the kids that just come in the afternoon were invited to come in the morning for the field trip. In fact, Aedan decided that he wanted to stay at preschool all day, so we packed a lunch for him, as well as his pillow, blanket, blankie, and Happy Bear for nap time. When we got to school, I could tell that Aedan was feeling a little nervous. He didn't really know what to do in the classroom since there were different kids that he didn't know. Miss Stacie was great in taking him under her wing and making him feel at ease, though. We sat down on the rug together and talked about field trip expectations while waiting for the bus to arrive. Aedan wanted to sit with me, and this was also his first time riding on a school bus, so lots of firsts for him that day. He was sitting very quietly and not interacting with me much at all. I think he was really pretty nervous and didn't know what to expect. I'm glad that I decided to go on the field trip with him because he would have been even more nervous doing all these things on his own for the first time. He's just so different from Samantha. She always threw herself into new situations with gusto, but Aedan is definitely much more hesitant. He even admitted to being nervous that morning on the way there. Here's my silly boy on the bus. He's looking so much more grown up these days.
It was definitely strange not having Aedan at home with me that afternoon. We had lunch together and then as I was cleaning up, Owen decided to open up the cabinets and mess with the things on the inside, as he usually does. He discovered that he could take all the cutting boards out of this cabinet and climb all the way in. It was the perfect size for him! I helped him get his left leg in, and he thought it was great to be inside the cabinet. I helped him close the door and we played peekaboo for awhile as he pushed the door open and closed. It was so funny that he even had the idea of climbing inside the cabinet. (Reminded me of Randy from A Christmas Story.)
That afternoon, I was excited to go back and pick up Aedan, and to hear how his afternoon went staying at school all day. He said he ate all his lunch, and his teacher said that he laid down for nap time, but he didn't fall asleep. I didn't know if he would fall asleep or not. He was tired enough that day, but it was also something he'd never done before, so it was probably a little strange for him to lay down at school like that. Miss Stacie said he came and sat by her and snuggled with her for awhile.
Before leaving preschool that afternoon, I took a picture of the farm that his class created together. It was really cute, and Aedan was proud to show me the corn that he cut and colored for the garden.
Thursday was a bit of a rough night with Owen. He woke up in the middle of the night and nothing we were doing was working to get him back to sleep. He didn't want to nurse, didn't want to be held, and wasn't happy being walked around. Finally, I just laid him down in his crib and left his room because I was getting too frustrated. As I talked to Ben in the other room, Owen just cried for awhile, but he eventually started settling down and ended up falling asleep without either of us having to go back in his room. I was glad of that, but the length of time we were both awake in the middle of the night made us both pretty tired on Friday morning.
We then had a busy day ahead of us because we had to go grocery shopping since I went on Aedan's field trip instead of shopping on Thursday morning. Plus, Samantha's teacher, Miss Allison, asked if we could come in and volunteer on Fridays during reading groups from 8:45-9:45, so I planned to go to her school for that while Ben took the boys grocery shopping. It was really fun to come into Samantha's class and help, as well as observe her at work in her classroom. That was one of my favorite things about doing the long-term sub job back when she was in kindergarten. I loved seeing my little girl every day and being a part of her day. While I was in her classroom for an hour, I was able to listen to kids read, and it was really fun to do. It helped me remember that I am looking forward to getting back into the classroom myself some day. Miss Allison had a good system going and a good handle on her class, which was really good to see. They rotated through various stations, and I loved watching Samantha concentrating and working so hard. She does so well in school, and I am so proud of the student that she has become.
After my time of volunteering in her classroom, I met with the gifted and talented teacher to discuss why Samantha wasn't being pulled for services. Samantha told me earlier in the week that some kids had been pulled out for G/T, and she wondered why she hadn't been. I was curious, too, so I contacted the teacher and was able to get things explained. Basically, Samantha is right on the edge of qualifying. She is one stanine below on one area of the cognitive abilities test, and she is one MAP score off from having the correct range of percentiles to automatically count for services. The teacher said that they discussed Samantha's case and thought about just adding her in because she is so close, has the support at home, and is clearly excelling in school. However, they are trying to be more judicious about who they allow into the program so that way they don't have to pull kids out later if they no longer qualify for services. This is one of the problems with basing everything solely on test scores, in my opinion. So we agreed to have Samantha take the Cognitive Abilities Test again sometime in a couple weeks to see if she scores higher than when she took it at the end of 1st grade. I would imagine she would do better, especially since she took the test last year just a couple days after her birthday, and toward the end of the school year, when not as much work was being done and bad behavior was on the rise in her classroom. The G/T teacher was very open to discussing Samantha's case, and she was also open to making a case to place Samantha in the program, even if the score doesn't show anything different, simply because she is so close to qualifying. I would really like her to get that extra enrichment at school. I don't want Samantha to be bored in school and not be challenged. I want her to continue to push herself to learn and think in different ways, and I think this program would help with that. This is one benefit of JKL, for they have enough money to pay for a G/T teacher and to provide that extra support for the top of the class, and not just those that are behind or struggling.
Once we got home, I had some things around the house to do to get ready for the arrival of the Clemons family. They were coming to stay for the weekend, and they arrived around 11:30. Ben and Aedan had a haircut appointment together, and then Ben had to come back home and get packed and ready for the church and conference. Originally, I was going to try and go with him, but with Owen still needing me so much and waking up at night to nurse, there's no way I was going to be able to leave him with someone else overnight. So after hanging out for a little while, Ben got picked up and was off for the night, planning on getting back home around dinnertime on Saturday night.
The rest of the afternoon went pretty well. Owen, Brielle, and Oliver all took good naps, and Samantha was really excited to see everyone when she got home from school. Aedan did a good job playing quietly in the basement, and I was able to sit and talk with Christy and Matthew for awhile. Owen took a good nap for about two and a half hours. We had dinner together, and then just had more time for the kids to play. However, Samantha and Aedan were both really tired and started losing it after dinner. Samantha had a bad cold, Aedan was crying over everything, and Owen was crawling all over me and getting into stuff while I was trying to get the big kids to bed. We put our extra mattress in Samantha's room for Aedan to sleep on, and I tried my best to get them to sleep at a decent time. Luckily, Christy saw that I was struggling with all three of them, and Owen being clingy because he was tired and wanted to go to sleep, too, so she took him out in the living room for me, without me even having to ask, to play with him while I finished getting the big kids to bed.
After getting the kids to bed, I just felt exhausted. I was tired from the night before, and I just wanted to relax on the couch. We talked for awhile and watched a show on TV while I waited for the diapers to be done in the dryer. I even fell asleep on the couch during the show because I was so tired I couldn't keep myself awake any longer. I was worried that Owen would give me a hard time during the night and that I would have to deal with him all by myself, but luckily, he just woke up once around 2:00, nursed, and went right back to sleep until 7:30.
Saturday morning we just hung out around the house for awhile until everyone was ready to go. Our plan was to go to the Red Barn Farm for a chance to see animals, go on a hayride, and just enjoy a fall activity. It was raining off and on that morning, but there really wasn't a better time to go since we had kids that needed to nap in the afternoon. As we were on our way to the farm, I stopped to get some cash and Matthew told me that my back right tire was flat. I got out of the car to look at it, and sure enough, it was very flat. I drove down the street to a gas station to fill up the tire, and we discovered that there was a nail in the tire and it was losing air quickly. I was so glad that Matthew was there to help me, because I am pretty clueless when it comes to cars, and I wouldn't have known what to do if I was by myself. He went inside and picked out a tire repair kit, and then jacked up my car so he could fix the hole so I could drive around and not worry about all the air leaking out again. It look awhile, but the kids all piled into our minivan and played silly games and ate snacks while Matthew got the tire back in working condition again.
Even though we had the tire issue, we decided to still go to the farm, and the kids were so excited. They didn't care at all that it was sprinkling. They had a blast together.
Here they are getting their picture taken as farm animals. I included several of them because different kids were looking and smiling at different times.
Then, we walked around the farm and saw the animals. They had bunnies that the kids just loved petting. Samantha was especially excited when an owner took one out of the cage so they could pet it easier. She is definitely an animal lover. I don't know if I've shared this story or not, but back when we trapped the skunk, she told Ben that he wasn't allowed to kill it. Her rationale was, "Would you like it if someone just came and killed you when you were a teenager?"
We saw llamas, alpacas, cows, pigs, and horses. This really is a great little farm, family owned, and just a great fall tradition. It was fun because the Clemons family was here for this weekend last year, too, so they've gotten to come with us two years in a row.
One of the owner's sons was giving small hay rides just for kids, so the kids all piled on for a tour around the pumpkin patch. Samantha was a real trooper and took care of Oliver during the ride, even though he was trying to squirm off her lap and cried most of the time.
After that, we decided to stop and have lunch. We got hot dogs, popcorn, and drinks, and sat down at picnic tables to eat. Samantha made a friend with the owner's little girl, sitting there talking to her for most of lunch, and petting and holding her gray cat.
It continued to rain off and on, but we decided to go on a longer hay ride as our last activity before going back home to get the babies down for naps. It was kind of nice that we were there on a rainy day because there weren't very many other people there, so we basically had the farm to ourselves, and it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from our hay ride.
Owen was definitely getting tired, as you can tell by this picture where he looks a little glassy-eyed and spaced out.
Christy took this beautiful picture of the colorful trees across the field on our hay ride.
Owen and Oliver both went down well for naps that afternoon, and we let the older kids watch a movie downstairs together as a way to do something calming and relaxing and quiet. Christy and I slipped off to a new clothing store that I had been wanting to try out. Matthew stayed home with the kids, and unfortunately, once the movie was over, the kids did not do a good job of playing quietly and woke Owen up from his nap. When Christy and I got back home, everyone was already awake, and I worked on getting everything ready for dinner so we were ready to eat when Ben got home. It felt like kind of a long, chaotic day, and I was glad to see Ben back home again, even though he was only gone for a little over 24 hours. We spent the evening getting the kids bathed and to bed. Then, we taught Christy and Matthew how to play Euchre. It was fun to be able to play a game together while our kids slept and our house was finally calm and quiet. We like having family visit, and I'm glad when people take the time to come up and visit us.
(Blog about September 30-October 6)
