ElCloud Homestead: Waiting on God

Merry Christmas!

08:50, 2008-Dec-24 .. Posted in Our Family .. 0 comments .. Link

I pray that everyone will have a blessed Christmas with family and friends, rejoicing in the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Enjoy every little moment, and don't take it for granted that you'll be with these same people again next year. Life is precious, and fleeting. Last year we had no idea we'd be celebrating Christmas without Steve's Dad this year. Enjoy your family! Love and cherish your time with them!

Trusting in Him,
April

How not to wrap your children's Christmas presents ...

03:51, 2008-Dec-22 .. Posted in Our Family .. 2 comments .. Link

Do not wrap presents in the middle of the day, in your bedroom, when you know your bedroom door doesn't lock, or even latch shut. Do not assume that the 2 year old and 4 year old are going to be able to resist popping in on you, through your unlocked bedroom door. (And what parents in their right mind do not have locking bedroom doors? I don't know, but it's the bane of my existence, it seems. In our previous house, the door also didn't latch or lock, and it would only shut fully for half the year.)

Do not get exasperated when your husband is occupied and can not come to your rescue when the 2 yo and 4 yo have popped in for the 5th time in ten minutes. Do not decide, when they refuse to leave, that you're just going to lock your "old as dirt" door. Do not grab the skeleton key from the closet door to see if it will fit in your bedroom door. Do not actually lock the bedroom door and return to peacefully wrapping presents.

Yes, that is what I did yesterday. Steve finally came along to see what I had been hollering about earlier. He asked to come in. Can you see where this is going? I couldn't unlock the door!! I tried for several minutes with the skeleton key. Then I slipped it under the door to Steve, and he tried. Then he tried to take the door knob off. That wasn't helpful, so he passed the key back to me, and I tried again. That time it finally worked.

I've been instructed to never use a skeleton key in any door in the house again. And the 4 yo and I finally worked out a system. I wrapped his presents super fast while he delivered other presents to the tree for me. When he was in the room, I occupied him by letting him fill out the gift tags. I'd spell, and he'd write. So, he doesn't know every single gift under the tree, at least. Between his writing (on the floor) and gift delivery, I managed to finish wrapping gifts.

Maybe I should have put a bedroom knob with lock on my Christmas wish list. *giggle*

Trusting in Him,
April

Congratulations to the Duggar Family!

06:34, 2008-Dec-19 .. Posted in Our Family .. 4 comments .. Link

I've had a draft sitting here with the title "We are NOT the Duggars" for a couple weeks now. I was going to write a mini-rant on people comparing us to them ... someday when I had time. Well, I just changed the title.

The Duggars had their baby girl yesterday. Their 8th baby girl, their 18th child. Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar. Congratulations to the Duggar Family! I truly mean that. If you don't agree with the Duggars or have a "bone to pick" with them, I don't want to hear about it. Don't leave any comments like that here. I wish them all God's best.

The reason I had a draft titled "We are NOT the Duggars", is because I get tired of hearing about them. Someone asks how many kids we have ... we say 7 ... and then the Duggars come up. Sometimes it's just a "Hey, have you heard of that family with 17 or 18 kids?"

Sometimes we get "blessed" with a rant all about what they dislike about the Duggars. I kid you not. When my Father-in-law was hospitalized, one of his nurses was ranting at Steve about the Duggars and their family rules. My Father-in-law was in intensive care, and the nurse is going on and on about large families to my husband, while his Dad is in the hospital. A total stranger!

Sometimes we overhear whispered conversations about the Duggars while people are looking at our family. I think I hate those the most ... because I don't know what comparison they are drawing, or if it's a good or bad conversation.

We are NOT the Duggars. Yes, we have 7 kids, and yes, we homeschool. But 7 kids is not 18. The Duggars have 2.5 times MORE kids than us. (Do the math!) Their children arrive closer together than ours, and they have a history of twins. Even when we are their age in about ten years, we will not have 18 kids.

It just blows my mind that people look at our family, see 7 kids, and it's so huge to them (apparently) that they immediately connect it with a family who has been blessed with 18 kids. To me, that's a huge difference, but maybe not to others.

Please, don't assume that because we homeschool and have a larger than average family, that we are like the Duggars. Not all large families are the Duggars. Each family has their own style, their own personality, and their own way of doing things. Please don't lecture me on what you don't like about how the Duggars do things, because we are NOT the Duggars. For good or bad, we are not the same.

Yes, we have let God plan our family size ... but His plan for us isn't the same as His plan for the Duggars. And He didn't create us to be carbon copies of the Duggars. We really do have our own personalities, our own style, our own faults and our own good qualities. Please take the time to get to know US and not just assume we are like the Duggars.

Now, as I said earlier, I have nothing against the Duggars or their way of doing things at all. I'm glad they've let others see inside a large homeschooling family as they have. I'm glad they are so open about their faith and their decision to let God plan their family. I know I would not want a camera crew in my home like that, nor would I want to be recognized everywhere I went. My issue isn't with the Duggars at all, but with people who make assumptions about US, based on their perception of the Duggars.

Wow! I just realized that if I am so "blessed" to hear what others dislike about the Duggars ... what about them? How often do they get publicly lectured by TV viewers who disagree with something they've said or done? That would truly be horrible. I could not handle that. I think each time someone brings up the Duggars to me (for good or bad), I'll pray for the Duggars. I'll pray for them to have the grace to continue walking the very public path they're on.

Anyway, Congratulations to the Duggar family! I know Jordyn-Grace will be loved and cherished and well-cared for. I know she will be raised in the teaching of God's Word. She is blessed already.

And just in case you're wondering ... no, we aren't a blended family either. That's another assumption people sometimes make.

Trusting in Him,

April

The Dangers of Elmer's Glue ... and a 2 Year Old!

08:08, 2008-Dec-18 .. Posted in Our Family .. 2 comments .. Link

If you're working on a Christmas project, and you suddenly realize your scrapbooking tapes are too large for it,

And if you decide to just use Elmer's glue instead,

And if you leave the Elmer's glue out because you're going to need it again,

And if you have a 2 year old in the house,

And if you leave the room ...

You might come back to find that:

The two year old has filled a toy tea cup completely with Elmer's Glue,

And is pouring it back out onto the table,

Where it will form a dinner plate sized pool of white goo.

In which case:

You'll be very thankful you have a plastic table cloth on your antique dinner table,

And you'll be glad you came along when you did, before it got any worse,

And you'll be amazed at the things 2 year olds manage to come up with,

And even more amazed that they survive!

It must be because they are just so cute, even when being naughty!

Trusting in Him,

April

The Beauty of the Season

05:17, 2008-Dec-17 .. Posted in Our Family .. 2 comments .. Link

We have snow at last. I've enjoyed the beautiful green outside my window for so long, that I'd forgotten how much I love the contrast of snow and trees on our land. It is beautiful. I can not imagine moving back into town after living out here. I was feeling so cramped in town before we moved, and it would be hard to return to that.

While I love sitting at home when it's snowy, not having to go anywhere ... I wish that were the only reason we're staying home. But it's not. We have a tummy virus working its way through the kids, and more cold viruses. Even 3 month old Baby G has a cold and cough now. His little voice is hoarse, and I'm trying not to worry about it possibly being RSV.

We finally finished our Christmas shopping. There are a few small detail items to pick up here and there, but we are basically finished. I am learning again how to prioritize my time ... deciding what is truly important to accomplish before Christmas? What can be given (or mailed) late? What just doesn't really matter at all? I'm trying to view that as a good lesson, and not stress over the changes in plans.

And now I need to rock a crying baby. If he gets just the tiniest bit worse, I'm taking him to the Doctor. Poor tiny baby boy! I hate when little ones are sick. I think I'll be sleeping with him in the recliner tonight.

Enjoy the beauty of the season!

Trusting in Him,

April

Experimenting with Clothesicles!

03:47, 2008-Dec-11 .. Posted in Our Family .. 1 comments .. Link

My dryer died in November, 3 weeks ago. I was able to use the clothesline the first week, since the daytime temperatures were in the 50s that week. We had company over Thanksgiving, and the temperatures fell at the same time my laundry pile grew. Last week and this week I haven't been able to use the clothesline ... or so I thought. I've been using my 3 indoor drying racks to dry 1 - 1.5 loads of clothes every day or so.

For some reason, I just couldn't get caught up and stay caught up like that. I finally had enough this week, and checked the weather report. Day time temps in the 30s yesterday, 40s today and tomorrow, and 50s on Saturday ... only 10% chance of precipitation. So yesterday I washed 4 loads of clothes, and all sheets, towels, undershirts, and dress shirts went outside on the line. More commonly used items were hung inside to dry. I almost emptied the 3 bin hamper.

Today I washed 2 loads of clothes (one was pukey blanket from the sick 2 yo). I hung the comforter on the clothesline, and the rest of the clothes inside. Tomorrow, I should be able to wash dark clothes again, and totally empty that bin in the hamper. Catching up, at last!

In the meantime, I discovered last night what a clothesicle feels like. I went out to hang a few last items on the line around 4:30 pm. The king size sheet I had hung an hour earlier was frozen stiff. I discovered that when I decided to adjust it and drape it over two lines, to raise it higher up from the ground. Clothesicles!

I checked the clothes this afternoon, when I was hanging the comforter. Nothing was dry yet. 24 hours on the line, and still damp. I'm sure the frost isn't helping at night. I'll check again tomorrow. Eventually they'll dry, right? Since my dryer does tumble dry with cool air, I could probably use it to "dry" the last little bit of moisture out of items. That, and drape them over furniture indoors, if necessary.

In the meantime, the expirement continues.

Trusting in Him,

April

A little bit of this, a little bit of that!

02:04, 2008-Dec-2 .. Posted in Our Family .. 0 comments .. Link

The children are slowly recovering from their colds. They're still coughing, but we've returned to our public lives. We've actually ALL been at church for two weeks now, and today we'll attend our homeschool group for the first time in 2 months. We missed 3 meetings (we have 2 per month).

We're studying Roxaboxen this week, using Five In A Row, volume 4. 13 yo A pointed out to me yesterday that she's too old for it. So I sent her to the encyclopedia to research city government and dig in further. She gladly went.

This is just a filler, though. We'll be starting Further Up & Further In, a unit study based on the Chronicles of Narnia as soon as it arrives, hopefully by next week. We'll be reviewing it, and are looking forward to using the study. The review is due in February, so we'll be using it that long, at least. Probably longer. This is a unit study we had planned to use in the past, but didn't. We already own several copies of the book, and I just ordered the Companion to Narnia to supplement our study. It's designed for the junior high age. We'll try to use it with all the children, but if we need to, we can pull the younger children back to Five In A Row.

We started reading Tabitha's Travels for our Advent devotions Sunday night. This is our second time reading through the trilogy, our sixth year using the books for Advent. We enjoy the books as a family, and keep hoping the author will get his Easter study (Mystery of the Temple Court) published, as well. I was just reading about it at his website: http://www.jothamsjourney.com . It sounds like it will be wonderful.

Besides our usual Christmas preparations, I have 7 reviews still due in December. You can be watching for those: Time 4 Learning website, Aleks website, Puppetools website, Motherboard Press e-book, All About Spelling, Peterson's Directed Handwriting, and Core Learning Crayola Art Studio.

We're still trying to figure out what our schedule of family gatherings will be this year, and finishing up our Christmas shopping. The children are working on their artwork for our Family Scrapbook Calendar gifts, and we're preparing to start working on Christmas cards. I guess we'll watch lots of Christmas movies as we work on the Christmas card and calendar projects. I know we may be unusual, but we usually send over 100 Christmas cards each year to our extended family, friends, co-workers, and church family.

We set up our Christmas tree and decorations this past weekend. It was a nice way to spend our Saturday, and we enjoyed the dusting of snow we received several times this weekend. A wonderful close to a good Thanksgiving. We hosted my family here for Thanksgiving. We were blessed to enjoy the time with my parents, all 3 of my sisters, my nephew, and my soon-to-be Brother-In-Law. It was especially cherished after our difficult October and early November, with the loss of Steve's Dad.We're looking forward to our Christmas celebrations with family, as well.

Now I need to finish getting ready for our homeschool group, and doing our Five In A Row lesson with the kids. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and are enjoying their Christmas preparations, as well.

Trusting in Him,

April

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!

04:54, 2008-Nov-20 .. Posted in Our Family .. 1 comments .. Link

Maybe no one else sings that song, except my sister and I. But we sing it around this time of year, whenever we are thinking about Christmas, and preparing for Christmas.

I've been filling shopping carts and browsing online today. I've got sisters, parents, two nieces and a nephew to shop for. It's fun to window shop from home. I just fill a huge cart and wait for Steve to get home and help me put stuff back on the shelf, figuratively speaking. He helps me set spending limits and decide what to buy, after I've done the brainstorming.

I do enjoy shopping in physical stores, but as our family has grown, and we've become more busy, I've begun to prefer shopping from home, via the internet. It saves me from dragging my kids from store to store in the cold, as they grow more tired and more cranky. I can't lose a toddler or preschooler when I'm shopping from home, either. We don't have to stop to eat out, or waste gas. The kids watch a movie, or play, and I shop. What could be better?

As I speak, my Amazon cart is full, waiting for Steve to review. I wish I had unlimited funds. Most of my kids' toys would be replaced with better quality, more basic, educational, imagination-building toys. Well, one birthday and holiday at a time, I can do that over time.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Please to put a penny in an old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a ha-penny will do. If you haven't got a ha-penny, then God bless you!

Hmm ... my guineas are getting fat, but we're not going to roast them. I hope every one else is having a wonderful time preparing for Christmas, too.

Trusting in Him,

April

Cough, sniff, blow, sneeze, cough

08:51, 2008-Oct-24 .. Posted in Our Family .. 0 comments .. Link

The sounds of coughing, sniffling, sneezing, blowing, and more coughing have filled my home all week. It started with 9 yo C ... poor girl. She has it bad. Others started sniffling and sneezing a bit. Yesterday it tackled 7 yo J and hit him just as hard as 9 yo C. Poor boy. I wonder who will be next. Hopefully not me or Baby G. Hopefully not DH, either, since he's still tired and stressed with his Dad's health situation.

Pray for us, and Steve's family. I haven't said much about his Dad here ... but he has been in the hospital since early August. He's diabetic, and had to have both legs amputated below the knee. He has been in ICU ever since then (over 6 weeks now) and is still on the ventilator. This week, he began daily dialysis. He is so weak, and just isn't recovering. Time just seems to bring new problems, rather than healing and strength. While health complications from poorly managed diabetes are inevitable ... it has still been a surprise that it came on so suddenly. And his decline since August has also been a surprise. We had expected he'd be in rehab therapy by now, not still lingering in ICU.

Steve's parents are Christians, and their hope is in the Lord, but it is still discouraging to them to be in this position. (Father-in-law in ICU, heading for a nursing home ... and Mother-in-law with alzheimers and also heading for a nursing home before too long.) They are only in their 60s ... so young to be dealing with this. Of course, my parents and our Sunday School class (all couples older than us) keep telling us we are too young (in our 30s) to be dealing with this, as well.

But we don't get to choose the trials in our life, or the timing of the testing that God allows in our life. Our hope is in Him, and we know He provides the grace and strength for any trial that comes our way. When I think of the trials others face, this one still seems minor in comparison. My child isn't struggling to overcome cancer, my husband is still living, and our family is strong. It could be so much worse.

Trusting in Him,
April

Things that 2 year olds say ...

04:24, 2008-Oct-14 .. Posted in Our Family .. 3 comments .. Link

2 yo L has been making us laugh lately. She's very verbal, and she cracks us up.

While my mother was here after Baby G was born, we realized that her apologies lacked something ... sincerity, maybe?

"I sorry. That was not an accident." Really? She says this all the time!

She also makes us laugh when she agrees with us. She always says, "Uh, huh! That's right!"

When she isn't sure what you mean, L says, "Huh? What you talking about?" in a sweet voice.

When she wants to nurse, she says, "Me want mooky. I like mooky." Who can refuse that request for milk? Never mind that it makes me feel like a cow, at times.

Today, though ... I heard myself say something to her that sounded rather nonsensical. "Your hands are cold, maybe you should put some socks on." I know it sounds crazy, but her hands were cold. So, I reasoned her feet were likely also cold, and her whole body would warm up if she warmed up her feet. After all, the head and feet are two places we lose body heat rapidly. But it sounded silly when I said it.

At least she is usually honest. Today I asked who had dumped out the blocks. She proudly replied with a loud and cheerful, "ME!" She even raised her hand. So, then I told her she needed to pick them up ... and she made a face that obviously said, "Aw, man! Not that."

Also, today she was talking with 13 yo A. 2 yo L told her oldest sister that she was Molly, our dog. So 13 yo A decided to play dog with her. A told L to Sit, Lay Down, Roll Over, etc. 2 yo L did each thing she was told. Then, A told L to "shake". L proceeded to shake her whole body instead of holding out her "paw" to shake hands with A. A just laughed and brought L to show me how she plays dog ... complete with "shaking" for Mommy, too. Again, she shook her whole body instead of holding out her paw. Cute, cute, cute!

Communicating with a 2 year old can be so much fun.

And if you're wondering ... yes, I've been saving up blog posts in my mind all weekend, and just now getting them posted. No, I haven't started the laundry yet. Yes, I'm still in my pajamas at 4 pm. Yes, I have been holding the baby most of the day. Yes, the kids did resume homeschool today. No, all my days are NOT like this. I promise.

Trusting in Him,
April

How to stay humble ...

09:55, 2008-Oct-9 .. Posted in Our Family .. 3 comments .. Link

Have a four year old. Yes, that will do it.

Tuesday we were preparing for homeschool group. I looked at my 4 year old and saw white undershirt (his favorite shirt lately) and knew it was stained, but figured oh well. Then I saw blue jeans and cowboy boots. Okay, that'll do, I thought. Arrive at homeschool group and take a closer look. Cowboy boots are wearing out in one toe ... oops! Blue jeans have a hole in the knee ... double oops! Tshirt is not only stained, but has several small pinholes in the front of it ... triple oops! Oh well, at that point there wasn't anything I could do about it. So, my ragmuffin and I attended homeschool group, and patronized the library before going home.

Wednesday, he was in a MOOD ... and not a good one. I knew before we left for church that he was not going to be obedient enough to go to his class. I'd need to keep him with me. What I didn't know was how miserable that hour sitting in the car was going to be. (I had intended to take him, 2 yo L, and baby G to an empty room ... but he fought against that.) Then we arrived home and more tantrums over bedtime snack arose. He's determined to learn the hard way that Mommy means what she says ... and to make us all miserable in the meantime.

Then, he was awake twice in the night, whining and fussing. Plus the 2 yo woke up once in the night. And Baby G decided to live up to his nickname twice ... Mister Grunt ... so I had to take him out to the living room to rock him to sleep where his grunts wouldn't wake up Steve or 2 yo L.

It wasn't a restful night, and I was not a pleasant Mommy with the whining 4 yo at 1:30 and 3:30. And I laid there thinking some not so nice thoughts about my dear hardworking husband who had gone to bed at 10 pm because he didn't feel well. He kept asking me to take his temperature to see if he had a fever, which he didn't. I'm sure I'm not the first wife to sit and think some of those thoughts in similar circumstances.

At least things look better by the light of the day, after some coffee and iced tea. But by evening, I'll be dragging, living on caffeine and chocolate.

This too shall pass, right?

And just to encourage me, and anyone else who has had a week like mine with a 4 yo, I'm posting some of my favorite encouraging quotes.

"The most important occupation on earth for a woman is to be a real mother to her children. It does not have much glory to it; there is a lot of grit & grime. But there is no greater place of ministry, position, or power than that of a mother." – Phil Whisenhunt

“Bricks and mortar make a house, but the laughter of children makes a home” – Irish Blessing

“The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.” – Harold B. Lee (1899-1973)

"Homegrown children take a lot of hard work -- and sometimes "it ain't pretty." Other times, it's breathtaking." ~~ Passionate Housewives Desperate For God, pg. 21

“Biblical motherhood means sacrifice, selfless love, and faithful dedication. It means we’re there with our families – body, mind, and spirit.” ~~ Passionate Housewives Desperate For God, pg. 21

“What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow.” ~~ Martin Luther

At least their hugs and kisses and sweet smiles this morning help me forget the frustration of the night before. I know God makes them cute for their own self-preservation. They're easy to forgive, and fatigued Mommy brains forget quickly, too.

Trusting in Him,
April

Making Room for One More

10:17, 2008-Oct-6 .. Posted in Our Family .. 2 comments .. Link

Every time we have another baby, people ask us where we're going to find room for the baby. Literally. Before we moved here, we had a 3 bedroom 1200 sq. foot home, and 6 kids. Now we have a 3 bedroom home that is almost 1800 sq. feet, plus an unfinished basement. The bedrooms are smaller than our previous home's bedrooms. Even though we have a larger home now, we've already been asked how we fit everyone into our home.

The answer is bunk beds, toy shelves, creative storage solutions. At the moment, the girls' room has two bunk beds. 2 yo L's bunk is empty, waiting for her to move from the toddler bed in our room to the girls' room. The boys' room has a twin bed, and a twin daybed with a trundle under it. Eventually, we'll have to start using the trundle for baby G, but at the moment it's only used when my sisters are all visiting at once.

We have toys in the bedrooms, and toys in the living room. But, we would get rid of toys and other excess stuff to make room for our children! I often tell people we don't have too small a home, and we don't have too many children ... we just have too much stuff.

Baby G has a bassinet in the living room for napping, and sleeps in our bed. Eventually, he'll move to the toddler bed that is beside our bed. Finding room for their clothes, and getting new dressers has usually been more of a problem than where the new baby will sleep. But some creative rearranging usually solves that problem, as well.

This pregnancy, the big issue was actually our vehicle. We had an 8 passenger Suburban, and were expecting our 9th family member. We tried finding a front bench to replace our two captain's seats. Steve called every salvage yard and used parts store we could find in central and eastern KS ... but kept coming up empty. Finally, just four days before Baby G was due to be induced, Steve located a bench seat for us at a salvage yard in a small town about two hours east of us!! We didn't get it picked up until Baby G was a week old, and we didn't get it installed until this weekend.

Sunday was our first time driving anywhere with the new bench seat. It works wonderfully, although Steve and I are still adjusting to having a teenager sitting between us. There go our semi-private quiet conversations as we drive. *giggle*

It was much less expensive than one of the fourth row benches, and safer. It was definitely less expensive than buying a larger vehicle, although we do hope to do that soon. It even matches our interior perfectly. I had told Steve I didn't care if it was purple or red or polka dotted ... to buy it and we'd put a cover on it. But it's exactly the same upholstery as the rest of the seats. Just an additional blessing.

So, we've officially made room for this baby, too. Praise the Lord! I had tried not to stress over the seat problem. I told myself repeatedly that if we had to drive 2 cars to church and not take any family vacations for awhile, we'd just have to trust that it was God's will for us for a time. I did reach a point of accepting that, and was very surprised and blessed when Steve finally found a seat, at the last minute.

I'm very thankful for God's provision, once again. And, as He often does, He provided in His time, at just the right moment ... not too soon, not too late, and not when I thought it needed to be accomplished. Just another lesson in trusting Him.

Trusting in Him,
April

Did you miss me?

07:59, 2008-Sep-29 .. Posted in Our Family .. 0 comments .. Link

After Baby G was born, my mother came to stay with us, and help out. She came, mainly because she knew Steve's Dad was still in the hospital ... in and out of the ICU ... and that Steve would need to be able to go see his Dad at times. And that was true.

When Baby G was 5 days old, Steve's Dad took another turn for the worse. So Steve took the oldest 5 kids and went to see his parents. They were gone for 3.5 days, although to hear the children tell it, it was a week ... or a month!! His Dad is stable now, although still in ICU. We are trying to decide when to take the whole family out there, so his parents can meet Baby G.

Mom was here, to help with chores and to help care for 2 yo L while I focused on Baby G. While Mom was here, I felt funny about spending much time online, so I didn't do any blogging. Then she left, and I couldn't think of what to blog about. So I just didn't blog. I've had a window open to start an entry for several days, though.

But this morning, I was lying in bed next to Baby G after Steve left for work, and several different topics were flowing through my mind. (It's his first day back to work since the Friday before G was born.) I was composing blog entries as I lay there, so I decided to do some blogging before the kids woke up.

Baby G is doing pretty well. I'm having oversupply and over-active letdown issues with nursing, unfortunately. I've been able to control this issue for the past 4 children, by not switch-nursing. (I didn't learn about it until my second child was 9 months old, but it was an "aha moment" when I learned about it.) But, this time, with nursing 2 yo L and Baby G, I'm struggling to get it under control again. I don't remember it being much of an issue when I was nursing M and L at the same time, and I'm not sure what I did differently then.

I realized yesterday that Baby G has a bit of thrush, and I need to get that under control quickly. And he's having some diaper related issues that I am trying to diagnose ... it's either a result of the oversupply of milk (foremilk/hindmilk imbalance) or a reaction to something I'm eating (like dairy). So, I'm cutting dairy and trying to gain control of the oversupply and overactive letdown. Then we'll reintroduce dairy later, to see which issue we're dealing with.

(By the way, kellymom.com is an excellent resource for breastfeeding, as are breastfeedingonline.com, Dr. Jack Newman's website, La Leche League International's website, and Dr. Sears' website. )

We're still having our "baby break" from school. This will be our third week off, and I need to start thinking about when to resume schooling. I'll definitely take next week off, but may resume on October 13. We'll see.

In the meantime, I have to help my children choose their 4H projects this week. We need to turn in our project lists next week at the meeting. Some of the children don't really care and have no idea what they want to do, but others are hyper-focusing on all the choices and are paralyzed re: making a decision. So it's time for me to help them decide. This is our first year in 4H, and we're still trying to understand what the project choices include, and how it all works.

And that's our little update (although not brief).

Trusting in Him,
April

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About Me

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ElCloud Homeschool Blog
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My Favorite Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 6:4-9
• Psalm 127
• Psalm 128
• Titus 2:3-5
• 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12
• 1 Peter 3:1-6

Our Family

• Steve 36 yo hubby
• April 35 yo SAHM
• A - 13 yo girl
• R - 11 yo girl
• C - 9 yo girl
• J - 7 yo boy
• M - 4 yo boy
• L - 2 yo girl
• G - 2 month boy