Bed Rest

I have gone seven weeks without . . .

Cleaning a toilet.

Changing a diaper.

Picking up Charlie.

Cooking dinner.

Vacuuming.

Shopping anywhere, except for online.

Driving a car.

Doing a single load of laundry.

So weird

In the last seven weeks . . .

I have become obsessed with crocheting.

Discovered pinterest--such good timing.

Taken guitar lessons via YouTube videos.

Watched Netflix more than usual.

Read more than usual--including seven "Junie B Jones" books out loud to Anna and Max. (That girl is a bad influence.)

Cuddled with my kids more than usual.

Conquered all levels of Sudoku puzzles including the level called Diabolical.

Not all bad.

In the last seven weeks I have realized that. . .

I can let other people be in charge. (including Taylor)

I can let other people help me. (including almost everyone I know)

I know, live by, and am related to amazing, thoughtful, kind, selfless people.

I am also married to a person like that.

My family loves me even when I am not doing much to contribute to their well being.

My kids can make their own lunch--what was I doing all this time?

Just one week to go before I can be done with strict bed rest and start being up more. I will be 34 weeks then. Good news! Freedom! We did it! Whew!

Baby Name

I just wanted to make it public knowledge that this baby girl already has a name. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that this time---have the name all picked before the baby is born--but it seems like we just can't help it. So this little girl is Georgia Kate. I've thought of her as Georgia for a lot of weeks now and our kids all pray for and talk about "Baby Georgia", and so do we. She's already named and already loved.

Big Boy Bed and Doughnut Party

Charlie had a birthday yesterday. Right now though, Charlie is banging on his new big boy bedroom door and yelling "OUT!" because he gets to sleep in his big boy bed tonight in his new bedroom. A few minutes ago I was in Charlie's big boy bed too telling him how nice and soft it was and how I liked his dinosaur pillow. Charlie is opposed to change, as am I a lot of the time. The timing of this change is mostly due to the fact that I'm not supposed to lift this child who wouldn't mind being carried everywhere for another couple of months, and so if he could climb himself into and out of bed, that would be really nice for us. Normally, I am of the opinion that cribs should be taken advantage of for as long as possible. Bedtime went a lot more smoothly when Charlie was caged in. And mostly, I'm just not sure if I'm ready for my baby boy to be big.

As for Charlie's birthday We celebrated on Sunday--we had a doughnut party instead of cake and ice cream because Charlie loves doughnuts. Almost every trip to the grocery store with Charlie results in either a melt down by the bakery or Charlie eating a doughnut happily in the cart or the first one followed by the second one. Last Sunday we invited Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunts and Uncles and we all ate doughnuts together and told Charlie that he is two and he is a big boy! He is a very loved little boy and although I don't think Charlie appreciates how loved he is at two years old, it means a lot to his mom.

The Four Year Old

Max turned four on December 17th--he is such a big guy. Daddy helped make his birthday really exciting--they went to McDonalds for lunch, came to open presents with me at the hospital, and had cake and ice cream that night with the Cashes, Grandma and Grandpa Shepherd, and Tina and Chris. Pretty much fun. Here are some pictures that Tina sent me of the party. Taylor called me in the middle of it and asked me where the candles were. Me and Max bought some just for his birthday, but I couldn't remember where I had put them, so Taylor improvised with some candles he found, and they did the job--lit up and blew out. Max got Legos for his birthday from me and Taylor and a new Leapster from Anna and Charlie. He was a happy boy. I was sad to miss the fun, but I have had lots and lots of good time with my four year old since then. We are so glad that he is part of our family!

The things I want to remember about Max as a three-year old

• Max has always seemed a little older than he is to me. He tries to talk like a grownup and he wants people to take him very seriously. One of my favorite words he uses is "certainly". He always talks with his hands and he will tell me things like "Mom, I certainly made a good picture"
• Max loves space ships and aliens and ninjas and robots. His friend Owen was here one day and the two of them gathered up all of Max's little ninja guys and the ones that Owen brought and they played ninjas for an hour without any talking other than ninja sound effects.
• Max is a good brother and really loves Anna and Charlie. He waits for Anna to come home on the bus every day and he runs out to meet her. They hold hands and walk home (Yes, I realize that's not going to last) He shares all his cool big boy toys with Charlie. I am really amazed sometimes at how willing Max is to share his cool stuff. He has gotten so good at that this past year.
• Max has very shiny, clean teeth that he is so proud of.
• Max's hair has a really hard time laying down, but he insists on having it flat and not spiky. We do our best at that.
• Max gives kind of violent hugs. He has a lot of love and energy inside of him.
• Max has a great smile because his whole face changes when he really smiles. I love it when I wake up to a big Max smile right by my face.
• Max is the first one awake at our house every day.
• Max has a whisper voice and an outside voice. There's not a lot in between.

We love you so much Max!!!

December

The beginning of December started with our kitchen torn apart and us eating every meal downstairs on a picnic blanket, which was okay because we were very excited to get new floors and cabinets in our kitchen. Max and Anna and Charlie were pleased with the dietary changes that included things like granola bars, lunchables, and juice boxes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We tried to make our house festive for the holidays in the midst of the mess, but it was a little more like just a big mess. I have to say having no kitchen was kind of more of an inconvenience than I'd anticipated. I guess I didn't think through that one all the way before we were in the middle of the whole thing, and we all learned that Mom and her kitchen are very important to each other. It's okay though because we all got through it and one day I am going to cook in my new kitchen and also clean it. Here it is when it was almost done (just the floors left)

Other happenings in December included this fun Christmas party at Grandma and Grandpa Shepherds. Here's the nativity with Kellie and our little cousin baby Violet as Mary and baby Jesus. Max and Anna are shepherds and I wasn't there, but I think I heard that Charlie chose not to participate until the end when someone told him he could be a sheep. That is more of Charlie's thing.

Anna had a Christmas concert with her school choir which she has loved being part of. It has been such a good thing for her. She LOVES to sing loud and enthusiastically. I think the favorite song from that concert was "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch". She taught Max all the words, of course, and we heard it over one thousand times during the holiday season.

And the unexpected part of December was that I was in the hospital for a week (including Max's birthday) and then home on bed rest for all of Christmas break. That was not in my plans for Christmas this year, but it turned out okay and I have really felt so much love through the help of family and neighbors.

And last, here is Charlie when daddy let him take his Leapster to bed. He was pretty pleased with the situation. Charlie is going to be a big brother soon, so Taylor set up a big boy bed for him upstairs. He loves to pat it , and climb on and off of it, but he won't sleep in it. We're going to work some more on that later.