It has been way too long since I have posted. Things have been busy in our household here in the last 2 months. After months and months of searching, Chris was finally offered a preaching position. We didn't go north like we had hoped, but it is a great opportunity to gain experience. We are now farther south in Arkansas. We packed up and moved on Nov 15 and have been busy since then trying to get settled. The hardest part has been moving with a newborn. It has been hard to get much of anything done. But, we are doing the best we can. It has been absolutely fantastic to finally be living in a house! It is almost twice as big as our apartment was, it has 4 bedrooms, and it is on almost an acre of land. I think the kids are just used to being in really tight quarters though because they are having a hard time spreading out. Even when they are outside. Yesterday was the first day they started venturing off the patio. We have been really enjoying it though. The weather down here is something to get used to. I'm not used to it being in the 60's in December!
Chris has been settling in in his new position as well. He is technically only "supposed" to have office hours from 8-12 (which he set) but he often goes back after lunch for a few more hours just because there is so much for him to get done. We live less than a mile away from the church so really it isn't a big deal and to be honest I rather enjoy having some time to myself again. It has also been really nice getting back into routines again. We took a break from schooling for a few weeks just because there was just so much to do. One of the first things we did when we moved here was get our library cards and we were able to start back in their curriculum just in time for Thanksgiving. Faith has been doing really well in her reading. She can read pretty much anything with a short vowel now and we are finishing up consonant digraph endings. We will probably work on reviews the rest of this week, do "NG" endings (-ing, -ang, -ung, -ong) next week, and then start long-vowel words the week after that. Have to admit I'm a little nervous at that one! This year Faith told me what to write in a letter to Santa, I wrote it on her paper, and that is what she did for her copy work. It was our first attempt at copy work and she did an excellent job. She is so proud of herself for writing her letter all by herself. From now on we will either be doing copywork using scriptures, or it will be to write a letter to her new penpal (who is one of her best friends from church).
Samantha has been doing really good in her reading too. She hasn't started the actual blending yet, but we are working on word recognition. She either points to a word in a sentence, or she is given a picture and the last 2 letters of the word and she has to figure out what the first letter is (ie has a picture of a cat and __at, and then is given 4 letters to choose from). I tried started the blending with her but she just wasn't getting it and was just getting mad, so we decided to put that part on hold for a little longer. It has been a little more of a struggle with her because she has an "I can't" attitude when given anything new to do and before even trying.
Everything has been different with Elijah. The girls both started talking so early but with him he still doesn't say much. Some things are more clearer, but when he does say something it is still pretty unrecognizable. I don't know if he is just having a speech problems or what. Chris and I have really been working with him on saying things and when we read books to him we ask about what the different things are in the pictures and make him tell us or have him repeat after us. He is by far more physical than the girls were. He is constantly climbing on anything and everything and is always swinging things like a bat or throwing balls, and is always wanting to wrestle around. He loves to be read too which is wonderful since we read a lot! He is also a little whirlwind. I can't keep up with him and the messes he makes. He is always into SOMETHING. I'm not exaggerating! The other day he got into a box which had the fuchsia dye we used to dye Faith's hockey gloves. He had it absolutely everywhere and he was covered from head to toe. Surprisingly it came off of his skin pretty easily, his hair was a different story. His hair is still tinted pink. It is a full-time job just keeping up with him.
Sweet little baby Carrie is getting bigger by the day. On the 10th she will be 3 months old. She is already fitting into some clothes that are 6 months. She is a big baby! At her 2 month appointment he was 13lbs 9 oz (95%) and was almost 24 inches long (90%). She is definitely a healthy baby! All of our breastfeeding woes are behind us now and we have both been doing wonderfully. Our saving grace is when the lactation consultant called me in a prescription for All Purpose Nipple Ointment. This stuff was just simply a miracle. It healed me up in no time and we have had no problems since. When I told my OB about it at my 6 week check up he said he has heard good things about that stuff. Which, honestly made me angry that he never thought to get me some and which also probably would have saved my breastfeeding experience with Elijah. I know I can't change anything about the past, but still. Carrie is more of a high maintenance baby like Faith was. She isn't too into sleeping and wants to be held all. the. time. And not just by anyone. By just me. The second Chris tries to hold her she will start throwing a fit. The second I take her back she is fine. Faith was the same exact way. It makes getting things done very very difficult! She just loves to smile though and it lights up her whole face. Today when I was playing with her she giggled at me for the first time. Such a beautiful experience.
Well, I think I have written enough for today and there are things I need to try to get done. Now that we are getting more settled though I will write more!
9 years ago