Falling Asleep Anywhere

These days, both Benjamin and I are pretty good at the skill of Falling Asleep Anywhere.  But fortunately for my dignity, more photographic proof exists of his ability than of mine. 

I'm glad to keep it that way.  :)

The Camera, My Motivator

As Thanksgiving approached, my thoughts and actions were focused on preparing for that holiday; and Thursday was indeed a wonderful day of celebration (more on that in a separate blog post--eventually).  :)

Friday came, and I was happy and energetic, ready to conquer the world.  Or at least, my house.  It was a great day.

Then Friday night, a cold hit me out of nowhere; and although it wasn't anything serious, it was bothersome enough to make me wake up on Saturday morning and wish for a hole to crawl into so that I could just sleep away the day.  "Sluggish" is an appropriate word for my behavior that morning--although perhaps not quite a strong enough descriptor!

There wouldn't have been anything wrong with taking lots of extra naps that day, in between the tasks of caring for my family; but I knew that mentally, I would be so much more encouraged if I could work up the strength to actually accomplish something tangible.  But I needed a kick in the pants to make myself do it.  :)

My camera to the rescue!  :)

I looked around the kitchen right after lunch; and as I surveyed the mess--some of which was normal after-meal untidiness and some of which was clutter that had been around a lot longer than that--I realized that, if I took before & after pictures of different areas in the kitchen, it sure would motivate me to stay on the job and finish it!

My plan worked; and before I went to bed that night, my kitchen looked better than it had for a long time.  It was indeed time well spent.

Here are some before & after pictures (not always from the same angle or covering the same area, but close enough) which will hopefully remind and encourage me the next time I'm dragging.  :)

 Much better in all areas!  Not perfect, but definitely a huge improvement.  :)

There was one more thing I took a quick picture of before I headed for bed...

...the trusty crockpot on the counter I had cleared off earlier, filled with roast beef for Sunday's lunch.

To the person who invented the crockpot, my heartfelt thanks!  Putting food in the crockpot does a lot to elevate me closer to the top-of-the-world feeling that I so enjoy...even when I have a cold.

I started Saturday sluggish, but ended it victorious.  I'm not sure I would have accomplished so much without using my camera to push me along!  :)

Quick Trip {Sneak Peek}

Of all the Thanksgiving traditions I hold dear, one of the very nicest is spending time with extended family.  Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same without it!  :)

I only wish that even more of the family could be together, but I'm thankful--so thankful--that each of these 21 people could gather together.  What a gift.

At the Top of My List

When I think of all that I have to be grateful for, the first thing on my list is the mercy that God has shown to me time and time again.  

But right after that comes a list of names--seven, to be exact.

These seven...

How grateful I am that, out of all the people in the world, God chose these seven souls to be my family.  Surely, my cup overflows, and I am filled with thanksgiving!!

The First-Time-Mom Me and the Sixth-Time-Mom Me

It's hardly newsworthy to mention that, as the number of my children has increased, I have relaxed in any number of ways in my role as a mom.  We all do that, I think.  First-time moms are notoriously uptight about...oh...just about everything: what kind of diapers to use, when to start solid foods, whether to ever let Baby sleep in the parents' bed, when and how to wean, whether Baby's clothes match--you know, all the important issues.  ;-)  Understand that I'm not putting down first-time moms for being like this; I was certainly intense in my desire to do things the right way when I had my firstborn, so I get that, and I'm not being critical or making fun.  But inevitably, as life moves us along, we find that some of the issues that seemed so big are considerably smaller than we first thought.  :)

Since Benjamin was born, I've been reminded of how far I've come (or how far I've fallen, depending on what side of the Gotta Do Things Right fence you're standing on); but I've surprised even myself by how laid-back I've become in one certain area.  And that is the area of feeding my baby.

When Josiah was a newborn, I often felt like I had NO CLUE about how to meet the needs of the precious little one God had given me.  For the first time in my life, the hormones of the infamous Baby Blues rocked my world and eroded whatever confidence I might have previously had about my ability to successfully raise a child.  I was adrift, knowing that I loved my baby more than life itself but sometimes feeling like I didn't know what to do with him!

Enter Babywise.  

Recommended to me by several friends I respected immensely, the book became an anchor for me--a guide to the mysterious newborn I held in my arms.  At last, I could grasp an idea of how to confidently care for him; and as I followed the general principles in the book (especially the Feed-Wake-Sleep cycle), I found that both Josiah and I were settling into a joyful, peaceful routine.  I knew what to expect from Josiah, and he knew what to expect from me.  The hormonal waves that threatened to swamp me gradually stilled to a steady, flexible pattern of life with a baby.

Because Josiah was an only child, I could arrange much of the rest of life around his feeding schedule; and that worked great.  But things changed through the years.

With each child that was added to our family, I again revisited the ideas in Babywise--sometimes even re-reading the book before or just after the birth of my babies.  And with each of them, I have generally applied the principles found therein--with a large helping of flexibility--and so have established a feeding schedule for them and have taught them to fall asleep on their own, etc.  Worthwhile things to do!  The results have been positive: all of them (except Shav, who had a whole other set of sleep issues) began to sleep through the night between two and three months of age, all of them were breastfed for a year and gained weight appropriately, and none of them were particularly fussy babies.  I was pleased and very, very grateful.

As Benjamin's birth approached, I didn't think a whole lot about it; but when I did pause to ponder it, I assumed that I would basically go the Babywise route again this time--and why not?  It had worked well in the past, so it would make sense to repeat that, right?

But here I am, two and a half months after Benjamin's birth, and we are nowhere close to following Babywise.  As a matter of fact, I would have to admit that, for the first time, I am feeding my baby on demand and paying very little attention to the clock or to the idea of influencing his feeding times.  We're just going with the flow!

It makes me laugh a little as I look back on myself as a mom 13 years ago and then look at myself now.  Oh, how I have changed!  But here's the thing that I think is so important: it wasn't wrong for me to be guided by Babywise with my other babies.  I needed that direction, especially as a first-time mom; and my life was structured in such a way that I could pull it off.

But now, it's not wrong for me to be going in a different direction and ignoring the advice that I once found so helpful.  As a matter of fact, I can't even picture how I could, in my current situation, possibly pull off the kind of consistent feeding times I tried hard to have with my other kids.  As the sixth child, Benjamin has already had to learn that life is full, we're often on the go to this or that activity for one of the other children, and his meals don't come precisely at the same time every day.  He gets fed when he needs to be, but sometimes the feedings are squished in around other activities, that's for sure!

After he was born, it took me a little while to realize that, not only was I not following Babywise very well at that point, I probably was not going to even try to do so.  Jeff asked me a few times about Benjamin's schedule, and I would somewhat sheepishly push the question aside, thinking at first that one of these days I really should try to get him on a schedule.  But finally I admitted to myself--and then to Jeff--that for the first time, I wasn't even attempting to get my baby on a schedule.

I have enough experience as a mom to have a general idea of when Benjamin is likely to be hungry, and I've learned to differentiate some of his cries.  I am also aware when several hours have gone by during the day and know that it's likely to be feeding time soon.  I've learned that when Benjamin fusses and I get ready to nurse him, if he doesn't want to eat, he just doesn't nurse.  (The adage "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" comes to my mind frequently in such moments!)  :)  When we're getting ready to leave the house for an activity for the other kids, I try to nurse Benjamin right before we go; but I recognize that if he only gets half a feeding, it will be OK.  If he is having a fussy spell, often in the evenings, I surely don't mind nursing him at closer intervals than I normally would; after all, having a good excuse to sit down on the couch and cuddle with my baby is a wonderful thing.  :)  I feel fairly nonchalant about it all.  :)

I think the trick is, as we grow, whether in mothering or in any other area of life, to not look back and put down our previous selves.  Do I wish I hadn't used the Babywise method with my older kids?  Not at all!!  That was a sanity-saver for me at that phase of life!  But now that I'm finding myself in a different phase, I'm learning that it's more than OK to switch gears and adopt a different mothering style.  And looking back, I'm grateful that I got to experience mothering from both perspectives, especially because I now have a greater understanding and acceptance of those who mother from each perspective.  This transition in my own style of parenting has increased my humility!  :)

I'm not the same person as I was 13 years ago; but I can feel good about who I was then as a mother, as well as feeling good about who I am now as a mother.  In some areas of life, there is just one right way to do things; but these mothering issues aren't those areas!  :)

These boys are living proof of that!  :)

P.S. I had already planned to write about this, since this feed-on-demand thing is actually surprising to me.  :)  And then last night, I stumbled across this blog post ("stumbled" is an appropriate word, since I have no idea how I even got there) and found myself relating to and agreeing with what she wrote.  She says it better than I do!  :)

P.P.S. I have no idea why all the words I've typed above the photo in this post are centering on each line, rather than staying to the left.  I tried to switch the alignment to left, and this computer switches it back immediately to center.  Why, oh why?

Wordless Wednesday {Oh, Look at the Little Dinosaur Feet!} :)

Sunday Snapshot #7

 ~ my five boys this afternoon, shortly before Josiah and David's concert with the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir...photo inspired by the photo below, which appears in the fascinating book I am currently reading, Vera's Journey ~

~ the author's picture of her five sons (another of her sons died as a young child, and she also had six daughters) prompted me to take a picture of my five sons, too ~

~ I'm sure Vera felt, as I do, that it's a blessing beyond telling to watch these small boys grow into tall, strong, upright young men! ~

How Old My Kids Think I Am

I'm pretty sure if you asked either Josiah or David how old I am, they could give you the correct answer.  But the other day during lunch, one of the boys asked Moriah how old I am, and her answer was quick and confident.  "Two hundred," she said.  :)

Of course, you wouldn't necessarily expect a three-year-old to remember her mother's age, right?  But what about a six-year-old?  Would you think that he would be capable of saying, in all seriousness, what Shav asked me tonight: "Mom, when you were a little girl, was there electricity?"  :)

The family laughed when he said it, but then Tobin spoke up indignantly on my behalf.  "There was CARS, dude!" he said to correct his little brother.  Never mind the incorrect grammar, at least he had my birth placed in the correct century.  :)

I can't blame them too much, however, because I well remember one of my favorite teachers during elementary school.  Whenever we would ask her how old she was, she would laughingly say something like, "Oh, a hundred and three."  Well, I knew good and well she was teasing; but I wouldn't have been surprised if she had been close to that, as old as she seemed to my young mind.  Now that I stop and figure out how old she really was back then, I realize that she was probably right around my current age--if not a little younger.  And yet she seemed so ancient!

Just like I must seem to my kids.  :)

Wordless Wednesday {Big Sister, Little Brother}

Our Neighbors' Big Summer Project

One of the extra-fun things we did this past summer was spying on our neighbors.  :)

Oh, they knew we were doing it.  In fact, they welcomed it!  You see, they were having a new barn put up-and even more exciting, their old one torn down--and they knew how interesting it would be for the folks (especially the little ones) from my side of the lane to watch the process.  :)

Many mornings, we would be halfway listening for the sound of heavy equipment; and if we heard trucks or tractors or saws or anything of the sort, our ears would perk up, and we would head across the yard to see what was going on.  As a result, we got to watch a tall tree being cut/knocked down (and the kids got to climb all over that downed tree before it was cut up and hauled off), a small garage building being knocked down, holes being dug, huge dirt piles being moved (and of course, the boys loved to climb on those), cement being poured, rafters being raised, old beams being taken down, and so much more.

We sure do appreciate all the free entertainment the neighbors provided for us during the summer of 2015!  :)

Because they are Old Order Mennonite and resist most modern technology, I refrained from taking pictures...well, until one certain day when the old barn was being knocked down and I happened to peek through our pine trees and see this beautiful scene.  :)

 A snap or two of the camera wouldn't hurt, right?  :)

 I didn't plan to ever share those pictures (or even, truth be told, reveal that I had taken them).  ;-)  But when Douglas, our neighbor, mentioned to me that he would really be glad if I could take some pictures of the new and old barns, I had to laugh.  Of course I'd be more than happy to do that for him.  :)

Here is the new barn, with adequate room for their three horses, their buggies, their bikes, plenty of hay, a wonderful room for doing messy work like preparing corn for freezing and butchering a deer (like we did together this past week), and other storage...

 ...and next to it, the remains of the old barn.

 And when I say "old barn," I mean REALLY old barn.  I don't think I'm wrong when I say it was well over 100 years old.

 We were fascinated by the skill of this machine operator...

 ...as he used the big claw to pick up individual boards and place them where he wanted them.

 Moriah, not surprisingly, lost interest in watching the machinery before we did, so she got to run and play and jump on the trampoline with another Mennonite girl from the neighborhood.

 Meanwhile, Tobin played in the dirt.  :)

 And we watched...

You might be wondering why, if I have so many more important things to blog about, I chose to, on this chilly November Sunday evening, blog about my neighbor's barns.  Well, here's the reason.  I suddenly remembered tonight that I told my neighbor that I would get those pictures printed out for him; and wouldn't you know, I had forgotten and never got around to it.  When I remembered tonight, I was inspired to go ahead and do it; and since I was uploading those pictures to a photo site to get them developed, I decided to put them on the blog, too!

Besides, even though it might not be as important as Benjamin's two-month "birthday" or Tobin's new reading ability, watching the one barn go up and the other go down was a unique, big part of this past summer; and it's definitely worth recording here and recalling in the future.

And if that's not a good enough reason, here's another one: looking at these pictures from hot August makes me feel a tiny bit warmer on this cold night.  :)

You Might Be a Tired Mom If...

...while reading to your children this page...

 ...from The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting...

...you are instantly seized with an immense amount of envy because you think that curling up comfortably against your husband's back and sleeping for the next four months seems like just about the best thing in the world!

At least, that's what happened to me this morning while I was reading to Shav and Moriah during Tobin's swimming lesson.  Instant envy.  I wish I were a bear.  Hibernation sounds sooooo good right now.

Maybe I'm a little more tired than usual.

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You also might be a tired mom if...

...while waiting to pick up your 10-year-old son from gymnastics, your infant son needs nursed, so you stay in the van to feed him for a few minutes--and instantly fall asleep, sitting upright, your baby in your arms, and you don't wake up until your favorite gymnast knocks on the door of the van because his class is over and he's ready to go home and he needs you to unlock the van so he can get in.

********

You also might be a tired mom if...

...while sitting in your rocking chair, nursing your baby one night, you fall asleep and then have a vivid dream about your neck hurting.  And then you wake up and realize that an hour or so has gone by, your baby has long since quit nursing and is snoozing peacefully in your arms, and your neck indeed hurts from the bobbing motion your head did because you went to sleep sitting up.  You realize you could have laid your baby back in his crib and then laid down in your own bed, thus avoiding an aching neck; but you're discovering that it's nearly impossible to stay awake when you sit down.  The moment you stop standing up = instant narcolepsy.

********

So yeah, I'm tired.  Exhausted is not too strong a word to use.  But hey, at least in my sleep-deprived state these days, I haven't yet reached the point of forgetting my baby's name like I did once upon a time (#6 in this post)!!  ;-)