5/19/2011

I had a nice birthday. I got everything I wanted and more, my parents came to see us, and I got to go out with friends. I'll add some pictures to the end of this post.

Ethan is just doing so well. Almost everything he says is a sentence (or at least a combination of 3-4 words), he loves school, and he has begun to write his name. One of his teachers, Ms. Colleen, just adores him. Well, both of them do, but Ms. Colleen is his special buddy. To think, at first I didn't like Ms. Colleen very much. I don't know why. It was back when Ethan was starting school and I was uncomfortable with the transition and nervous about how it was all going to go. Anyway, Ms. Colleen is awesome, and she loves Ethan so much. She told me how much she enjoys working with him yesterday. Ethan talks about her at home and runs to her first thing when he goes into school every day.When he wrote his name for her today for the first time, she saved the paper to hang on the wall, made me a copy, and cried as she told me about it when I came to pick him up. She is the best. I am so glad he has another year in school with her and Ms. Linda, doing the STAR program.

Madelyn is busy lately. All day every day she begs to go to "class", which means Sunday School. She is happy to go to the park or the store, but once we get home she wants to go right back out and do something. She spends a lot of time begging -- "Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase? Pretty, pretty, pretty pleeeeeeaaaaaasssseeee??? Can we go to the park (circus, store, Papa's house, wherever)?" It wears me out. She does enjoy playing with Playdoh, her babies, the Strawberry Shortcake house and the dollhouse, and coloring. I have lots of activities planned for summer, so hopefully I can keep her busy enough to not be constantly hearing the begging and pleading. She is still my sweet baby, and I love sleeping next to her every night (yes, we're still happily co-sleeping!).

Elijah has been playing t-ball this spring. He is on Team Chili's (Travis sponsored the team). It's adorable to watch. He really is a good hitter, and he's getting better at catching the ball in the field. Last week after he got a hit and came around to score, he ran out to the stands to give me a hug and tell me he loves me. How sweet is that? He is the sweetest, most wonderful child. He also enjoys school and going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. On Wednesday nights he sings in the Kindergarten choir and plays handbells. He is very interested in reading the Bible and watching Veggie Tales for the Bible stories. He is an excellent reader. He is reading Beverly Cleary's Socks right now. He reads a chapter on his own, then I ask him questions about it to check for comprehension. He is really getting it. I am so proud of him.

I'm busy too. I'm still sewing, but I've nearly come to the end of my orders. I am looking forward to the break. I want to get the house organized this summer, work on cutting down our energy consumption, spend tons of time with the kids, and do a lot of gardening and cooking. Travis will have a week of vacation in June and another in July. It will be a great summer!

The promised pictures:

On the eve of 31.

Tonight I'm trying to enjoy being 30. That's right, tomorrow is my 31st birthday. I'm happier and more settled on this birthday than I have been on any of my previous birthdays in my adult life. I am happy. I love my husband, and I'm extra lucky because he loves me back. I love my three kids. I love having so many kids. A lot of people freaked out when we announced that we were going to have our third child, and then again when we got pregnant with #4 in November, but I couldn't be happier about having 3. (I miscarried on New Year's Eve, if you're wondering about why I'm not pregnant now.)

I am not sure why people have this cookie-cutter view about how many children a family should have. It's like you're supposed to have one boy and one girl and that's it. And if you mess up and have two of the same gender, then you're really just screwed and should call it quits. If you have three or more, no matter what, people look at you and say, "Wow, you have your hands FULL," and, "Well, you finally got your girl so now you can stop," or my very favorite, "When is Travis getting a vasectomy?"  I am tired of those people, and I am through caring what other people think. It's not that we are going to have more kids. We don't even know that if we tried we would get blessed with one. It's just that it is no one's business but our own. When I was younger, I cared what a lot of people thought about me. As I got older, I only cared what my family and close friends thought. Now I can say for certain that I only care what I think, and I will give Travis's opinions equal consideration. The number of kids one chooses to have is just like anything else, I suppose. People have this idea of how things should be: two children, one boy and one girl, house, picket fence, public school, quarterback, cheerleader, college, great career, and the cycle starts all over. And if you stray from that "ideal" at any point people will tell you that you messed up. Or worse, that you are messing your children up.

Wow. All that from a post that started with me saying how happy I am. And I am very, very happy. I sat and watched Elijah play t-ball this evening. After he crossed home plate in the first inning he came out to the stands to give me a hug and tell me he loves me. He is the sweetest, most wonderful boy. I have plans for two raised garden beds for all my fruits and veggies that are currently in containers (all the containers have taken over my front and back porches!). I really want to get the chicken coop thing figured out so we can add that to the backyard as well. I dream of the perfect backyard with several garden areas, a chicken coop and run, a compost area, and a clothesline area. Travis added a giant hammock to the backyard dream. After we get the gardens built in the next week or so, the chickens are the only thing left. Urban homesteading has become very close to my heart in the past months, and I am glad Travis feels the same way so we can give it a solid go. That, and we agreed that I would homeschool Elijah next year and see how it goes for 1st grade. I am just so happy. I feel like I am really living the life I was meant to live.

Here's to 31. May it be the best year yet.

(I thought I would end with some pictures of our day yesterday. That's Ethan's hair in the fuzzy pic with me. He was sitting on my lap but started getting up before the picture took.)