On sickness and such

Ahhh... I am loving this day. I was down with a stomach virus yesterday and today I feel like a brand new woman! A few days ago Sam was not acting like himself and started having lots of... um... we will say "tummy issues". I took him to the doctor and she said it was just a stomach virus and to just focus on keeping him hydrated. I felt so bad for him. 4 week olds should not get tummy bugs! Then Wednesday night/Thursday morning I woke up sick. I was sick off and on all night and felt pretty terrible most of the day yesterday. Nick stayed home and Sam and I basically stayed upstairs in my room all day. This morning I am feeling much better and Sammy seems to be on the mend as well. I am hoping for a full recovery for him today!

I think today we will take it easy most of the day. Tomorrow Nick is surprising Max and Sophie and taking them to the circus! I am a little jealous to not be going! But, the little boys and I will have a good morning at home. Then Saturday afternoon Max, Sophie, and I have eye doctor appointments. Good times.

Well, not much else to report here. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Shout out

I just saw a reminder in my inbox that The Happy Wives club moved their weekly link up to Mondays and I immediately knew I needed to write a quick post about my hubby this week.

I just have to give a big shout out to my hubs because he has been so helpful since the baby has been born. (He is always helpful but he has just gone above and beyond). He has totally allowed me to focus on taking care of the baby and he has totally pitched in with dishes, laundry, clean-up, and helping with the other kiddos. On top of that he has totally been there for me emotionally and I am just so thankful!

I love my husband so much and am so thankful for him. And I just love that our boys (all three of them!) and our little girl get to see such an amazing example of what servant leadership looks like everyday!

So, thank you Babe for all that you do! We love you so much!

Lazy (ish) Mondays

I actually really like Monday mornings. They tend to be a little slower around here. I kind of like to ease us into the week, so we usually stay in our jammies a little longer and mama has been known to sneak in an extra cup of coffee... or two, while the kiddos play. I am not sure what game their little imaginations have come up with this morning but I do know I was asked to get down a set of blocks for them and every stuffed animal in the house is in a big circle on their bedroom floor.

As usual our weekend went by way too fast. Saturday was mostly spent getting things done, boo. Although, we did hit up our favorite pizza place for lunch and some good friends of ours happened to be there and asked if we wanted to join them for lunch. So, we got to have a fun impromptu lunch with friends which was fabulous.

Sunday was Sam's first Sunday at church. He did fabulously. We missed the end of the service because he needed to eat but it was nice to feel like taking 4 kiddos to church isn't too hard... Sunday afternoon I was able to spend some time in the kitchen getting freezer meals together for my monthly freezer meal swap and I also baked a cake to take to my mom's house! I realized that I actually really enjoy cooking when I am not having to multitask with keeping kiddos entertained!

Sunday evening my parents had us over for corned beef and cabbage. It was so delicious and we had a great time hanging out. Jack was in heaven the whole night because he got to be with his Papa. Jack is basically obsessed with my dad and whenever my dad is around Jack is his constant shadow. It is pretty sweet.

I have realized that I haven't picked up my real camera in weeks. All I take are cell phone pics! The quality is not as good, but it is just soooo much easier! So, here are some pics from the last few weeks I thought I would share!

Sam is not the most easy going baby we have had ;) He really likes to be held all day! So, thankfully we have the Moby Wrap!

And because of the Moby Wrap I get to do this! Both Max and Sophie are working through Saxon 1 together. I like to combine as many subjects as possible to teach them together... the beauty of homeschooling!

Last Friday the weather was gorgeous! We spent an hour or so on the back deck and it was awesome.

 And here is another one of my Snuggle Bunny in his favorite sleeping position.

This seriously seems to happen every morning around here! If Sam is on the floor he is pretty quickly mobbed by all of his siblings. I. LOVE. IT.

Here is a picture of the chocolate cake I made yesterday! The kiddos called it a "Lord of the Rings Cake".

This bulldozer was parked down the street so we had to get a few photos with it when we walked to the playground the other day!

Max, Sophie, and Jack with their sweet friends Mason and Elizabeth!

All right, time to get out of lazy mode! Have a Happy Monday everyone!

Siblings

I can't believe this sweet little man will be 4 weeks old on Monday. Time is flying by... please make it stop. Even though the newborn days can be taxing I absolutely love them. This little mister is pretty unpredictable. He has days where he is happy and content and days where he has to be held 24/7 or there will be some serious screaming. One night he slept almost 6 hours straight... most nights he is up about every 2 hours. But, seriously, I love these days even though I am tired.

I got this picture this morning and pretty much cried as soon as I took it! I am so blessed!

Why God would choose Nick and I to raise these four is more than I can take in. I only have one word for it, GRACE! These four were so cute this morning because this wasn't even staged. I had been changing Sam on the blanket and asked Sophie if she wanted to sit by him while I threw his diaper away and washed my hands... I came back to this...{heart melted}

It was such a beautiful reminder of something that I truly believe; giving your children siblings is one of the greatest blessings you can give then. I believe that raising kids in a home centered on the gospel of Jesus is the greatest gift you can give them. The second is having a good marriage and making your spouse your first priority after God. And third is siblings! My kids definitely fight... a lot some days. But, they love each other fiercely too. To watch them love each other and play with each other everyday is amazing. And I just plead with God that they will always be close.

The Update

Baby Update:
Well, we have been home with our little man for about a week and a half. A few people have asked how the adjustment from 3 to 4 kids has been. I can't really say since I haven't had to really live with 4 kids yet. Nick was completely off last week and this week he has been working half days from home. It has been so nice to have so much help. I have been able to take a nap most days and have gotten to focus a lot of my energy on just taking care of the baby which has been a huge blessing. Monday will be my first full day taking care of all 4... so I will let you know how it goes! Speaking of all 4... I snapped the Little R's first group photo last night after bath time...

And this was just the best one I got. They all took turns holding him for the pic! It was sweet. All of the kiddos have seemed to adjust really well to having Sam here. I thought Jack would really struggle since he is just 2 1/2 but we haven't had any issues with him which is a huge praise!

I snapped this picture of our sweet youngest child this morning...

I could just gobble him up! He has been a really good baby. He is pretty unpredictable at night (as you might    expect for his age. Most nights this week he has woken up every few house. BUT, last night he woke up at 12 and I got him back down to sleep at 1 and then he slept until 6am!! Pretty sure I heard the hallelujah chorus when I woke up! Now if we could just keep that going! What do you say, Little Buddy?

Homeschool Update:
I realized the other day that we have completely changed everything we are using for homeschool this year. We switched reading programs a few months ago when Hooked on Phonics started moving at warp speed and we weren't making progress anymore. We started using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (we didn't start from the very beginning, so I just flipped to a part that seemed reasonable) for phonics instead. We are also using BOB books from the library. Things are going so much better now and we are both really enjoying reading again.

For math we started the year with Horizons math for kindergarten. I really wasn't happy with it. I felt like it really wasn't giving him a solid foundation and was mostly just teaching him how to use a number line. A few weeks ago when I was sick Nick did the math lesson and he immediately shared my frustration and encouraged me to get another curriculum. Thankfully I had two friends lend me their books to look through. I decided since Nick is our math person (he has a math minor) that he should pick our math curriculum. I had him choose between Math U See, Saxon, and Singapore Math. He chose Saxon because he felt like it gives a good foundation and teaches in a straight forward way. Since we were starting at the beginning again I decided to let Sophie just join in with us. So, they are both now working through Saxon 1.

Weekend Update:
We are really looking forward to this weekend. We have an event with some of our homeschool friends in the morning and then get to spend some time with family in the evening. My sister and brother-in-law will be in town and will get to meet Sam for the first time.

Blogging Update:
I know that I have been a terrible blogger. I probably will continue to be. I absolutely adore the newborn stage. I do get a little sleep deprived but it is still just such a sweet and special time. I kind of wish I could always have a newborn! So, needless to say, I will be soaking it up and savoring every moment of newborn-ness! But, I will jump on here and update when I can!

I hope everyone has a blessed and fabulous weekend!