Kids and Craziness

Hubby teases me becasue I like to watch reality shows about big families (I quit Jon & Kate because of their divorce). As a kid I loved Eight is Enough and The Brady Bunch. I don't know why I'm so fascinated by big families, but I know this: three is sometimes too much! The reason I haven't posted in so long is because they keep me so busy! Sometimes, all I'm doing is holding the baby, but that keeps me form accomplishing other things like laundry and dinner. I know one thing that might make a difference is getting up earlier, but I don't want to ! (*whine*). Over the last few weeks, I've been having some major insomnia that I attribute to perimenopause. Yes, there IS such a thing. My periods have gone from like clockwork to schizoid since I weaned Mr Huggie (Delaney). That never happened after the other babies. I've also been kind irritable, which is sooo not like me (really, I'm not being sarcastic). I've also been trying to get ready for school. We enrolled in Georgia Virtual Academy and school officially starts on 8/17. We'll be on vacation that week, so I'd like to start in the next few days. GVA is called public school at home by some. Just the fact that it's at home makes it sooo much better than public school. I'm really liking what I've seen so far and am excited to get started. But first, I need to not be so busy all the time....

Delaney at 14 months

At the Pool

These pics are from last week, but this is where we spent part of our Father's Day. I was a nervous wreck watching the girls while Daddy went to the giant slide. Shelby is much too independent in the water and Ava is finally loosening up. Delaney it quite at home in it. They all had a great time and we were all worn out at the end of the day.

Goin' on a bike ride with Daddy

Courtney took back the bikes we'd bought for the girls, because they just weren't figring out the whole pedaling thing. He thought the hook-on bike would help teach Ava the concept. She pedaled backwards throughout the ride.

Garden Progress

We have 2 kinds of tomatoes, okra, hot peppers, bell peppers, cucumber, squash, zucchini and 2 kinds of beans. Still have room for more, but we haven't decided what else to plant. I'm thinking peas and a second planting of beans.

Playing in Cow Poop is Fun!

The kitchen redo has kept us from pursuing other items of interest. One of them was starting a vegetable garden. After reading Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening, I decided to give it a try although it was kind of late in the season.

Hubby pouring the ingredients of Mel's Mix

Our big helpers (above).

When we had all the ingredients of Mel's Mix in the van, Shelby (who is very smell conscious) asked, "What is that stinky smell?" I told her it was cow's poop to which she replied, "EEEEEWW!"

Here we all are, mixing the mix per Mel's instructions.

Once it was all mixed and her nose had acclimated to the smell, Shelby announced, "Playing in cow poop is FUN!"

Our Square Foot Garden

First Steps

I think that no matter how many children you have, a baby's first steps are always thrilling, adorable and a little sad. Sad because she moving out of babyhood. If you have older children, you know how fast they grow up. Most of the time, I am really enjoying these early years. The girls are all so sweet and adorable (again, most of the time).
Over the last couple of days, Delaney appears to have realized the magnitude of this new skill. She looks so proud of herself when she manages to take more than a few steps without falling. Her sisters hover around and impede her progress, and I don't think she's going to tolerate that much longer.
She's gaining weight nicely, thanks to a visit to a pediatric gastroenterologist. We still don't quite know why she's so underweight, but at least we're making some progress. All her labs and stool studies are normal, so we'll see what the next step is at the follow-up appointment. He switched her from Alimentum ($27 a can) to Vital Jr (cheapest I found was $150 a case of 24 - 8oz cans). There goes our summer vacation! One of the many sacrifices we must make for our children, I guess. I did find a case on eBay and won it for $76! Am I proud of myself, or what? We may get to go on vacation after all. This formula tastes better and is higher in calories (30 cal/oz), and we sure can see the difference in just a few days. Her stools are firmer (but still quite stinky) and she looks fatter already!