Anna & Joseph Visit, Fall Break

James left last Thursday for his trip to Seattle. Anna and Joseph both came on Friday. We had fun hanging out.

Saturday, we ran a few errands and went to the library for a fresh batch of books. I watched a chick flick with Anna after everyone else went to bed.

We somehow survived Sunday even though Anna left after Sacrament. I am in Primary now as the pianist, so Lewis was a little bit of a challenge. He refused to sleep at all, but we found enough people to hold him that he was a total angel. Thank goodness. Dinner and the rest of the evening went all right. It was the last of 4 nights alone without James, but I felt the most anxious about going to bed, more so than any other night. I don't know why.

Monday, James finally got home in time for dinner and Katie's birthday! I can't believe she's 4! It was fun to see her reaction to her presents and eat yummy cake. I made a mint chocolate one that turned out amazing. She wanted a heart shape too, so I borrowed one from my neighbor.

The past few days I've been grouchy and tired, no idea why. Perhaps it's because I keep trying projects that fail. I did make a cute latch hook rug, but everything after that has been frustrating. I tried to fix James's car door handles, but no luck at all. It's too complicated for me. Same for fixing a kitchen drawer that has totally fallen apart. I did manage to learn how to sew zippers, but I didn't enjoy the process at all.I fixed my temple dress but can't zip it up easily because it doesn't fit well when I am nursing.

I did get our shopping done since we were out of lots of things. Anna will be back today around dinnertime. She and Joseph leave Saturday. James is going to make his famous fries for dinner. Yum! I usually do the cooking because I enjoy it, but James makes the best fries in the world.

Rough Week

Last Saturday was Super Saturday. I learned how to make wreaths! My very first one is on the front door. I know it won't last till Christmas, but knowledge is power. I had no idea it could be so easy. We hung out during the afternoon and didn't do anything that I remember.

Sunday, I got a new calling as Primary pianist. It's my third time with that calling, second time in this ward. I don't mind at all. It might be my favorite calling I've had so far.

Lewis has been grumpy all week because he's getting 4 new teeth. He took a break on Wednesday, and it was Kenny's turn to be sick. I took him in to the doctor for an official diagnosis of an ear infection. 45 minutes at the pharmacy, and we finally got home. Poor guy woke up crying in the night and had lots of pain and nausea in the morning, but after some medication for the nausea and a dose of the antibiotic, he was already feeling better. Today (Thursday) it's back to Lewis being grumpy. 2 or 3 of the teeth have popped through, but he's still working on the others. It's messed up his sleep a bit too.

We did finally manage to go on a date yesterday. We got some fun stuff for the kids at D.I., then ate dinner, and then went to the library. Life is easier without the kids, but I always miss them when it's been longer than an hour.

James just left for Seattle to go visit his sister Angie. I'm really bummed that he's gone, but he'll be back on Monday. The kids have fall break today and tomorrow, so no school. Since I've finished all my quilts now (1 T-shirt and 2 denim), I'll be working on a latch hook rug and, surprisingly enough, maybe reading some books! When I was sewing before, it took too much concentration to listen to any audio books, so I haven't read or listened to anything in a very long time now. I don't know what I'm going to do during the actual winter because I'm out of material after I make the rug. I found patterns at D.I. for women's clothing, so maybe I'll see if I can come across some cheap material to actually make them.

Accidental Sleep Training

So last Friday, I was so tired I could barely function. I hadn't been able to sleep for a week and Lewis seemed to make noise (though not crying) every 2 hours or so. This is the kid who used to sleep 8 hour stretches! Desperate for some sleep, I tried turning the baby monitor off so I wouldn't hear his weird grunts but would still be able to hear his crying.

Two nights later, I realized I can't actually hear crying from across the house without the monitor. I asked the boys if Lewis woke up during the night, and they said no, but they sleep through almost anything. I noticed that Lewis seemed a little upset Saturday morning (after the first night), but he didn't sleep any extra during the day.

To make a long story short, I do keep the baby monitor on now, but Lewis can now fall back asleep on his own without making tons of noise. Also, he will go to bed wide awake and go to sleep without complaint. We have been there on naps for months. He's been ready to give up night feedings for a couple weeks now. He wouldn't eat much and always went right back to sleep. Phew. I'm glad it's over. I just feel awful for those two nights where he maybe fussed a lot (I'll never know) and couldn't hear him.

We went to two friends' baptisms on Saturday, Tayson and Marcus. It was really nice, and there was a lunch afterward for Tayson.

James had parent-teacher conferences on Monday, I went to one for Joseph on Monday, and James attended Kenny's yesterday. He also volunteered to go grocery shopping for me! That was pretty nice. Usually that only happens if I've just had a baby.

The rest of the week has been pretty relaxing. Tuesday, we went out for dinner and to the park. I've been happy about our favorite TV shows being back, mostly ABC comedies that we watch on their website. (Or the Roku app.) I'm glad there are some good, pretty clean shows out there.

As for this weekend, I have Super Saturday tomorrow! I'm just going to go the classes, hang out, and eat lunch. It should be great.

Katie has a funny obsession with hair this week. She got gum in it last week and gave herself bangs yesterday. They don't look terrible, actually. She also climbed up to the shelf in my bathroom and smeared lotion all over my mirror and put gel in her hair. At least, I hope it's gel. She's going to be the death of me.

Since I finished with doll clothes, I made a T-shirt quilt and denim quilt this week. They both turned out cute. They were both pretty fast since everything was already cut out. Today I'm making a cape for Katie. From leftover sheet pieces, I can make 2 more doll outfits too.

The End

I'm so glad James is done with mosquito abatement! We saw him very little last week because even when he was done, he had two meetings and two days of Homecoming duties. However, we had a great weekend watching Conference, eating lots of snacks, and working on projects. I made some more doll stuff and even a few baby rompers. They turned out so cute! Sewing kept me from eating too many snacks, too.

James took Katie to the dance Saturday night for an hour. She loved seeing all the princesses. I still think she was the prettiest one there. I might be biased, though.

We've had a pretty relaxed week, especially compared to our schedule since the beginning of school. I'm really glad things have calmed down a bit. Jonah comes over twice a week on average while his mom is at work. It can be challenging to stay in a good mood. Sometimes he and Kenny gang up on Katie and won't play with her. I hate that people say the genders aren't different from birth. Katie has access to all the "boy" toys she could want, and the boys have access to all the "girl" toys they want, but they rarely play with each other's toys. It's not because I've forbidden it either. They play imaginative games together all the time and often disagree about how to play the games.

For being so close in age, Katie and Kenny have often struggled to get along. Joseph and Kenny, on the other hand, have gotten along ever since Kenny was 18 months old and quit wrecking Joseph's toys. (And everyone loves Lewis.) Sibling relationships are interesting to watch.

I've been sleeping very poorly this week. It is rather disappointing that after two kids who slept through the night at 8 months, Lewis doesn't. I have hopes for 10 months, though, because that's when Joseph hit that milestone. Waking up at night is such a bummer at this point. I have had about ten good nights of sleep in the last year and a half. It's not as easy to manage as when I was 22.

I finished sewing all the AG doll outfits and ended up with 24. I have 4 more outfits to sew for Katie's baby doll, and then I'll start on my jean quilts and t-shirt quilt. (3 total) I'll probably listen to some audio books while I do it because straight lines are boring and don't take a lot of concentration. I'm especially excited for my first t-shirt quilt.