Where Have We Been??!

Wow! Where did we fall off to? Sorry, friends and family, for the looong absence. We have been out of town 2 weeks in June and 2 weeks in July, as well as trying to survive from being gone that long and getting back into a routine. Thankfully, that is starting to happen!

The last thing you all heard, Zachary was sick. Thank goodness he is healthy and flourishing! We took him to the doctor and everything seemed fine EXCEPT his iron count. I hear this is typical in breast-fed babies, that they tend to be anemic. This is not a shocker to me, since I was anemic when carrying him, as well. We are giving him iron supplements, which he loves, because it's this grape syrupy stuff. (yum) It does, however, cause constipation, which my sweet baby does not handle very well. (I don't either, for that matter!) He just hollers and gets so mad! A great cure for that has been to give him iron every other day instead of daily, and to invest in the prune market. (yea, ok, so we didn't do that yet, but we are definitely considering it!) Prunes, apples, oatmeal, and cheerios. Those all help with the whole fiber thing, at least for us. (My baby is eating cheerios all by himself!!)

Zachary has moved into his own room for the entire night now, and he insists on sleeping on his stomach. Let me just say, we have a new mattress on the crib, with a sheet only, no blankets, so that he can breathe in there if he turns over in his sleep. I always start him on his back, but he is determined to sleep on his stomach. He is 10 1/2 months old now, so I'm hoping he's going to be fine. He's crawling up a storm, and he's very good at sitting up from a prone position. He is standing with support, and sometimes will inch along holding on to the couch or crib in a slow little walk. I hesitate to use something to force him to sleep on his back, just because he will find a way to get out of it (Houdini) and either wrap it around his neck or shove it in his face somehow, and try to breathe through it. Therefore, I'm being brave and letting him sleep in his own bed, his own room. Big step for me...my baby is getting so big!!

Brianna lost another tooth, but she informed me that she is keeping this one, and the tooth fairy can't have it. She then proceeded to lose it, which I informed her was why the tooth fairy showed up in the first place. She thinks I grow wings at night and fly into her room and magically convert the tooth into money, since I told her the secret that I was really the tooth fairy. Oh, well. I tried. I guess I'll explain that one again in a couple of years.

Brianna is starting Kindergarten, and we are sending her to a Christian Academy here in our city. She is very excited about this, and asks me every day if today we are going to school. I am just thankful I didn't announce her impending school attendance two months ago. I would be certifiable by now! The reason she's so excited? They have rocks on the ground in their playground. That's my little geologist!

Why do they make five year old children get shots? When my oldest got his, it took 3 nurses to hold him down as he went ballistic. But not Brianna! With Brianna, she watched the nurse put the needle in her leg, and said "Ow, Ow, Ow" and then blew big breaths out her mouth, and was done. She was way braver than I've ever been taking shots. (I have needle phobia due to bad experiences in the hospital with needles, but that's another story!) She didn't cry at all, and at the end of the last shot (of three), she said to the nurse and me as we were standing there in shock that she wasn't screaming her head off: "Whew, I made it! I didn't think I would, but I made it!" (from my little 5 year old girl) She's growing up so fast. I was a mess, but she was cool. It paid off, too, because she got 2 stickers and 2 lollipops for being so brave. I wish they gave rewards to grown-ups when we have to get those nasty shots in the hip that hurt like the dickens when we're sick! Maybe I wouldn't fuss so much if I knew I was getting 2 stickers and 2 lollipops.

Jonathan set up a bunch of dominoes today, and put on a big show for the family. It was adorable. He is seven, and he managed to get all the dominoes in his box (all 120 or something) to stand up on the long dresser in his room, several curves and a straight stretch. They all fell down except the last three. I was very impressed with his patience in setting them up, and he wanted to share that with everyone. We all gave him a standing ovation, and Brianna hugged him and said, "Jonathan, you are soooo coooool!!" It was great!

They are doing a drama in Kid's Choir at church. Jonathan is the Male Neighbor. Yea...generic, but anyway! He already has the play memorized, and they just started a few weeks ago. Not just his part, either. The kid is crazy smart. He just gets things so fast! (ok, so I'm bragging...just a little!) We are pretty proud of him, though.

As far as my husband and I, we had our 9 year wedding anniversary in June. We are still going strong, looking forward to several more decades together. Congrats to us! =) Hey, we actually got a date or two out of it! (We've got to do that more often.)

Well, that's the excitement for today. We are going to be starting homeschool with Jonathan in 2nd grade, and Brianna will be going to Kindergarten, and we have Zachary crawling everywhere, chewing on everything with all 8 meeting teeth, so I am going to have my hands full. I hope to blog every once in awhile, and if there is a topic anyone wants to discuss, I'm open to that as well. Hope it's not so long before the next blog, though. Thanks for your patience with me, everyone! =) Until next time!