An "All over the place" post

Just cuteness, waiting to bake pumpkin bread with me.

My brain often works overtime. So in an effort to purge myself of the thoughts that are rolling around in there, I am going to jump from thing to unrelated thing in this post. Hang on.

-Life with Liam has gotten (relatively) much easier lately. In a weeks time, he stopped nursing, started to go to bed without us "sleeping him" (i.e. sitting in his bedroom until he fell asleep) and started to do rest time in the afternoon without a fight. I have waited three years and two months for this. It is just as magical as it sounds. The amount of free time (ha, like any mother really has free time! it is always something, right?) I have now is ridiculous.

- Simultaneously, where did my little baby boy go? Just wow. He has always been my little guy who did his own thing, in his own time, when it was his idea- which was often exhausting. Honestly, as one of my friends and I have spoken about often in regards to our three-year-olds, all the things that sincerely drive me crazy about Liam are the things that are going to make him a really interesting adult. I look forward to someday seeing the fruits of my labor.

-I love canned pumpkin. Seriously, a lot. I mean, yes, you can bake and puree your own pumpkin (Michelle!) but that takes time and effort. Which would mean that I would likely never get it done. It really simplifies baking pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies. Delish.

- I am pretty sure that I read about knitting more than I actually knit. This is due in part to Ravelry which is basically a gigantic database of knitters/patterns/yarns. It is an amazing resource. I like to knit, of course, but part of it isn't the physical act of knitting, but also an appreciation of the finished product and the work that it took to make it. And I can only make so many knitted things, so I enjoy looking at what other people have made. It is like art, really :)

- On days when I feel like a bad housekeeper, unorganized and unmotivated, I have to remind myself how far I have come.

-I love the feeling of Adelle's fuzzy head on my cheek. I think it is the small things like this that make motherhood all worthwhile. I don't know if/when I will have more babies so I am very careful to make sure I notice this while I can.

That is all for now. I am sure there will be more randomness some other time though.

Our Learning Room Version 2.0

We finally got our carpets cleaned and got the chance to set up our learning room- hooray! It isn't as big as the one in our Victor house, but it has a big view out window, which is great because it gives us more natural light. And it has a nice big closet to store things in. Here is our work table.

Reading corner

Waiting for story time. This was their "Crazy Picture". Apparently Issy and Isaac got the memo. Liam was going for a more thoughtful look. And I love the look that Adelle is giving Isaac.

This is about a month and a half overdue. My kids made this tooth fairy box back in Idaho and wanted me to take their picture with it. I uploaded in about a month ago, but it just didn't get posted. It is what it sounds like- a place to put your lost tooth for the tooth fairy. So she doesn't have to dig around in the dark for your tooth :)

Why Kansas is good

Knitting night :)

Cousins to help you open your birthday gifts!

Cousins to hold you upside down and tickle you
And so on and so forth...

These are the reasons I am glad to be back. I love getting to be with so many of my friends, such strong, beautiful women. Mothers raising their babes with all the love and joy and insanity that comes with it. Several of these women I have known since we were walmart-scavenger-hunting-teenagers together. I could have never guessed 10 years ago the wonderful ways that we would grow and change.

Cousins. Aunts and Uncles. Brothers and Sisters. Parents. Grandparents. Our kids especially are just over the moon to be near all of our family again. Their joy brings me joy. Sleepovers with cousins, family get-togethers. Playing with Grammie and Grandpa.

Such a blessing.

There's a baby on my back! (and other thoughts on moving)

Right before we left Idaho, Delle got a mild fever- not ever sure what that was about! She did not want to be put down, so I put her in the Babyhawk on my back and did some packing.

She has gotten so much older in the last month- sleeping better, moving better (yikes!), just a generally happier baby. I can't believe she is four months old already, didn't I just have her?

Our move to Kansas is complete- me and the kids got here, got house and the stuff got here, hubby got here last week, started new job. Soon, the house will be all unpacked, we shall get back to homeschooling and life will again be normal.

But it will still be slightly surreal. Because sometimes it seems like 28 months in Idaho were some sort of dream. Like I was living someone else's life. I am not sure how to adequately explain that- so I won't try right now.