hijack 2 baby

I am hijacking the blog today, as Dave is currently setting up a tent in the backyard for he and Jesse to “camp out tonight”  and I think he plans on going to bed with him around 8 or 9.

It has been a super busy day.  I accepted 4 extra kids for the day, totalling 7 with my own, knowing Dave would be around as an extra set of hands.  However, Dave had committed to helping a friend move, and it never occurred to me it was on the same day as today when he double checked with me that it was workable.

Seven kids is totally fine if they are all over 3.  Seven younger kids are fine if I’m not waddly and pregnant.  But, 7 kids aged 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 is HARD in your third trimester!  All the lifting and squatting and bum changing and being constantly on the feet can be pretty exhausting.   And then throw in all the relational issues to negotiate..... It’s a challenge.

The day shaped up pretty well though!  I had a last minute cancellation, and then a friend popped over with her little guy for a few hours in the morning to help out.  Between 10 and 12 can be tricky with art, lunch, diaper changes, and settling everyone in for naps, so I was super thankful for Kim’s help this morning.   Also, the forecast was iffy in regard to rain, and it didn’t rain all day, so we were able to spend lots of time outside, which the kids do much better with.  PLUS dave came home for 3 to help me push through the last couple of hours of the work day.  Everyone had a good day in the end, and I am good aside from the fact I don’t know how I am going to get up the stairs and into bed!

Anyways, the summer is flying by.  Things are busy but good.  Jesse is loving his life one minute with all the exciting and different events that summer brings, but then crashing the next minute having to “come back” to reality.   He has some real lego from his birthday, and has gotten really good at following the instructions and building things.  Right after breakfast he usually closes himself in his room and works on all his little things for the first hour of the day.  

Janna is so funny with her conversation and language these days.  The other day she was discussing family roles and she said, “ Mommy make breakfast, and mommy make snack, and mommy make supper, and daddy make......daddy make Barbeque!”  Dave and I love to get out with her.  She adores errands, and is a great shopping pal.   She has been less teary with the double attention and more rested parents, but still bursts into tears over the simplest things.  Whenever you ask when why she is crying, she wails,” because you is ANGRY at me!”  Which is rarely the case.... When challenged on this notion she will respond, “ Oh.  I are just tired.”

Robyn is a ton of fun and busy.  She watches her older siblings do everything, and tries it all herself. She now mounts and descends the slide backwards, forwards, face first, bum first, and has even tried somersaulting down it!  She loves the water and if we don’t have the pool or sprinkler going, she takes the top of the watertable and climbs into it.  She has loved having time to spend with daddy, and is really into lip smooches and blowing kisses.  She is such an interesting combination of wanting to be around people and action, but super independent at the same time.   She is a total ham, but much more reserved in the presence of any company.

Dave ran his first 10 K race the other day, and came in under his time.  HE was surprised at how well it went.  But, he has been doing his runs each week with the girls in the jogger, and so I am sure that not having all those extra pounds is something!  He is enjoying tinkering in our garage with his tools, and taking care of the lawn, and getting lots of one on one time with the kids.  He admitted to me that reading this book to the kids gets him "feeling something funny."  That is his way of saying choked up.  Awwww...he's a great dad. 

I am feeling kind of STRUCK by my third trimester.  Leg cramps and more breathlessness, and a super need for a longer nap each day.  But, that’s ok.  Par for the course.  I am happy this is lining up with Dave’s time off, and hopefully I’ll be rested enough to push through September on my own.

Well, that is all for now. It is starting to rain a bit, and Dave is pushing through setting up the tent quickly and Jesse is inside with me playing with his flashlight before they can cozy in.

Tis all for now

Chrissy