Sugary, Lemony Days

Disclaimer: There is a disconnect between the following pictures, and the written blog to follow...but I wanted to share both parts of my life this week :)



So, nursing a baby: tiring but rewarding.
Homeschooling: a full time job.
Dealing with a child with OCD: indescribable.
Doing all three at the same time: increasingly overwhelming.



It's been a long time since I've mentioned Trevor and his therapy from 2010. We had about 9 months of the most normal normal-ness that we've had yet. School was way smoother, Trevor was way calmer, and we were able to focus on pregnancy and Poplar Head Woodworks. I'm tempted to think that we were just distracted from Trevor that whole time, but I know things are harder with him now. Soon after Zackster was born, we started to see some new OCDisms in Trevor that we hadn't ever noticed before. It makes sense that a major event, such as having a baby or remodeling the kitchen (or both at the same time!!), could have triggered his OCD, but it doesn't explain why we had relief for a time after the therapy??



Trevor's OCD is growing more oppressive week by week. He'll have a really horrible day, and then a day where we can almost pretend things are normal.



We've had nights of going to bed in tears. I've spent hours and hours talking with, and trying to help, Trevor. I feel pretty nearly out of wisdom and humor. Friends have given me books and other literature that I have been devouring. We pray and we pray and we pray...for wisdom, for healing, for help, for patience, for relief.



God is so gentle and patient with us. He continues to remind me that he sees me, and hears my prayers. It seems like he takes every opportunity to answer my little prayers and encourage me. I know that we are in the middle of a story--that God has a plan for all of this.



Meanwhile, we are enjoying this sweet baby. He'll be 4 months old tomorrow. Mom is here, which means that our clothes are actually in our closets instead of in the laundry basket, that the mammoth dust-bunnies that had been living on my stairs have been evicted, and that I can actually sit down and type! Aaahhhh.

The Best Parts of My Day...

...were:
~having a helper while fixing our pancake dinner
~finding egg shells in the dregs of the pancake batter after dinner

~hearing Samuel say, "Want to play boggle with me, Trevor?"
~hearing Trevor cheerfully reply, "Sure!"

~noticing Tim and Trevor playing with the puzzle ball, and catching the statement,
"Dad, wouldn't that be easier if you weren't holding Zack?" prior to Trevor saying, "Mom, I think Zack is hungry."

I spy...

...a Birthday Boy!


But first, regular-old-life pictures.

I'll start with my favorites. I walked into the kitchen recently, and found Zack leaning over checking out this basket (which, incidentally came from our neighbor's garbage pile--the kids brought it home:).



I said Hey Zack!


Whatcha looking for?


Oh man... what a Cutie!

He still likes the usual activities. (this outfit is from you, Kim...Thanks :)


(Ope, that's the moose shirt you gave him, too...under the bib.) (Ope: I heard Trevor say Ope the other day...I say it too. Is it just us, or does anyone else say that???)


He can bear weight on his legs finally...he loves to stand up. (this out fit is from you, Mom! :)



So Precious!


Ok...enough about Zack. There's a party to document!

Samuel wanted a spy party. We went with an international spy theme. Every single boy we invited came...amazing! Friday afternoons are the time to do a party!


Tim pretty much took charge of the games.

It was great. First they played capture the flag. They all loved it. Next they played a scavenger hunt game that Tim invented. I had printed stickers with flags from 14 countries, and hidden them in peanut butter jars all over the yard. (I got my flag clip art HERE...a super easy-to-use geography site.)

We passed out these tiny comp books (50 cents at target!) to each spy.

Inside the boys and I had taped a tiny maps of the yard and the world.

The p.b. jars were hidden sort of geographically. The spies also had a list of flags to find, and they ran around collecting the stickers and putting them in their books. They loved it!

Sorry, no pictures of the boys running around. I was too busy chatting with the moms!
Not everyone placed their stickers in their books as neatly as Trevor did his...


Then cake...


...and then the boys played on the zip line, opened presents, and played in the yard. They all had a super fun time.

That evening we had more of a family party with pizza and more presents.


Happy Birthday Samuel!

The Third Month

Finally! Here's some pictures of our new kitchen!

Remember how it used to look?


Before:


After:




We are really enjoying the kitchen. That pass-through wall in the middle that used to be there was not exactly conducive for conversation. :) We love to hang out around the island, and we've been eating in the kitchen for every meal since Tim has torn into the dinning room. One of these days he'll get around to painting and laying floor in there... but first he has to reach a stopping place on another project: the tree house!

Last weekend we hung our new zip line! It runs from the "tree-bridge" to another tree about 90 feet away. Some day I'll try to get some really good pictures, but for now you can see these:





You can see the "tree-bridge" in the back ground. That's the launching place.






See Sam standing on the rail to get started? Well...that worked for one day...until the rail broke. Now Tim and the boys have to get things built a bit better. They just got back from a Lowe's run for supplies.

So, you may have noticed Zack in his walker...

His feet barely touch the ground...

...but he likes to play in it. He especially likes to be pushed around in it. :) Thankfully he has 3 very obliging brothers...


He also likes to play on the floor...

being held...

and of course swinging and sitting in his bumbo. He has started grabbing toys, and really loves his stuffed animals.

He is so sweet, and keeps us very entertained. He had a 2-5/8 month check up...he is healthy finally. No thrush, no reflux, and only a little eczema. He weighed 14 lbs and was 25 inches long.

He still eats every 2 hours, all day long...and every hour in the evening. But it is worth it...he "sleeps" from 9 p.m. to about 6 a.m. every night. I say "sleeps" because I do have to pop his pacifier back in his mouth every couple hours. He takes half a dozen naps each day, and knows when I'm taking him upstairs for one. At first he would cry when I took him in my room to lay him down, but now he cries as I'm walking up the stairs to the room. When he's sleepy, he cries na na na. It makes us laugh. He seems to like to watch TV already...he especially enjoyed AFV last Sunday. :) He really enjoys people...seems like the more people, the better. He even cried once this week when his granddad tried to hand him back to me.

It is so amazing to me how much the boys love him. I was afraid that they would be jealous of all time he takes from me, but...no. In fact, they say they want more kids. Ha!

The boys and I were discussing who Zack looks like, and each boys thinks he looks like themself. It's pretty cute. I think he has William's eyes, and Samuel's chin. I mentioned that Trevor had a very round face as a baby, William's was more oval, and Sam's was square. Trevor said that Zack didn't have any of those...

I asked, "Well, what kind of head do you think he has?"
Reply: "I think is is shaped like a muffin."

Wha-at? A muffin? Muffin?!

We got a good laugh out of that. We call Zack Muffin now.

Trevor's really been on a roll this week. Here's another gem:

Scene: Me- washing dishes
Trevor- eating breakfast at the island

Trevor: What if someone didn't have any knees...
Me: Hm-mmm.
Trevor: That would be as bad as not having any milk. Can I please have some?

Oh dear.

William and Samuel have been having a great time playing outside with their new spy gear, etc. They have been making a fire pit on our driveway with cinder blocks that they "found all around our yard". I'll have to snag a picture. Here's how I found Samuel dressed at lunch the other day...

One Cool Cat.

Gotta run. Hopefully I'll be back before another month goes by!