Lately...

This has been my first real week "on my own" as a mom with 8 children -  now that BB's back at work, the holidays are over, the travels are done, and we have no guests, it's back to Reality for all of us. It was a long, beautiful, eventful, exhausting break and heading toward Normal (especially a post-birth NEW normal) is always a bit jarring and bumpy.

But it's also refreshing to start anew...

 Middle of the night photo of sleepy ME

Little Brother is mending after his latest respiratory illness. The big girls are adjusting to being back in school. Today, CJ and I did a good day of preschool together while her older sisters were away at classes. 

Baby ME is a contented little thing. She's impressing us with a tendency to sleep through the night now and then. To me, that means she goes a 5-6 hour stretch without waking to feed. Last night, she went even longer. This is a sweet delight at this stage in the game, as our house is populated by children who were average to TERRIBLE sleepers. We had a six-year stretch once where there was a kid in our room, in our night, nearly every night. Sometimes it was multiple kids. Regularly. 

Anyway, it's a treat, while it lasts, that she's a "good" sleeper. Yahoo!

 Look at those dark, intense eyes!

BB and I are prayerfully researching and searching for a new home, as we're eager to get closer to his work in order to cut down on his commute time; simultaneously, we are looking for a new school for the kids for the 2015-2016 school year.

I am hoping to begin meeting with some of the ladies from our church soon. We've very slowly but surely starting to connect more at church. This small group of women meets every other week for talking and prayer.

For some time, I've been talking (to myself and to BB) about doing something to challenge myself in the area of writing. I finally did it! I enrolled in a six-week online course called Creative Non-Fiction. Getting my toes wet!

 ME looks very much like big sister CJ. Not identical, but many similarities - especially her eyes, and that dimple, of course.

 Resting on the kitchen countertop, getting ready for her first bath - 3 weeks old

 We have documented each baby's first bath - I got a photo of him taking her picture...

And, he got a picture of me getting ME's pre-bath photo

 The very definition of pitiful here...last Thursday while Back Home at Gramma's (BB's mom) house, BH continued to run his fever and was feeling so badly. He finally fell asleep in Gramma's arms. When she needed to get up, she laid him in the chair to keep sleeping. He awoke and stood up, acting like he was going to walk away...

But he didn't make it very far. He napped this way until it was time to go and we put him in the car. Poor guy. I am very glad to say that he's much better today!

I've been reading I John over and over, feeling so in need of being taught by Jesus how to truly love. It hits me that I know the gospel well in my head, but struggle to hold it in my heart and live it out. Sound familiar? I think it's the Human Problem, you know?

I'm also reading a book called Connecting With Our Children, by Roberta M. Gilbert, which was recommended by our therapist in Texas. Of course, I want to connect with my kids, but I'm also reading it as reinforcement - to help me hang on to the good ideas and habits we learned in our therapy experience.

There's a wee one getting restless here in my lap. She's telling me it's time to stop typing and start feeding....

Until next time!