New hope with regrowth

It takes me a while to get used to hair cuts. Even Phil, who gets his hair done "professionally", looks awful to me when he gets home. For about a week. And then I'm used to it. If it's not too short. So, with a bit of regrowth and a bit of time, the kids shall all look cute again. We can hope.

Before:


After:


After:



Before:


After:


Amazingly enough, Matthew sat the best for me. And Melanie was the worst. I was lucky to get a snip in when she wasn't wiggling. Once she's old enough to care what it looks like, she'll be old enough to sit better. And maybe by then my hairdressing abilities will have grown dramatically.

I don't think they improved any. I kinda like the longer shaggier look. But I'm not the only one in the world, I'm told.

Maybe in a week they'll look cute to me again.
Maybe in a week I'll be able to love them again.

o so sleepy

With all the work I put the kids to yesterday,

babysitting

shoveling

and playing,
you'd think they'd sleep in?
Of course not.

Characters

Some people loves to dissect babies actions in order to help predict certain characteristics they wish (or fear) will emerge when they mature.

What will this or that child like? How is he/she different than the other kids at their age? (I guess I am one of those dissecting people.)

Well, I have labeled Daniel as Mr. Intensity. He is like the girl with the curl in the middle of his forehead. According to a good friend (who dropped by this morning to give me black current jam, which I am currently drinking like a tea, to help clear up my congestion) there is something in the name Daniel, so we are now basically destined for the ride of our lives while raising him. Thus far, it appears there is something in her dire warnings. (I have also heard some of the same said for Matthews-which I also am prone to believe.)

I have cut milk products almost entirely out of my diet (to do it entirely requires too much effort) to help cheer up Daniel. He had developed a habit of being rather grumpier than we like, especially worse in the eventide. So, my lovely hubby, who is not scatter brained like I am, reminded me of how we had a similar problem with another child and how the child was more cheerful when I cut down on the lactose, and kindly suggested we (when he really meant me) should try this again. So we did. But I had just purchased lasagna ingredients--so I made the double recipe had I planned to, froze both instead of one, then we had leftover pea soup for dinner instead. Yum.

As for Matthew, he has been dubbed Mr. Mischief. He does enjoy teasing people, including me. Here he is refusing to eat the apple that he had begged me all morning to have. And yes, he was getting to me. But he ended up eating the apple eventually. So, we both won that battle.

He is also the social one. He was ecstatic to see the surprise visitor this morning. He loves going out. He's the one I shove through the door at an unfamiliar place when I arrive all loaded to the gills with kids and things. He cheerfully paves the way for his shyer siblings.

Melanie is Miss Please-all. She loves to cheer people up, be their gophers, and such like, as long as they treat her kindly and thank her for her efforts. She also learns a ton by watching others play. (Good things and bad.) She is content to sit and watch and obey for an allotted portion of time, the amount of which she only knows, and then she rebels with great vigour!

She can be very too, and I am forever chasing with a Kleenex or telling her to go get one herself. (I'm sure the Kleenex company is thrilled with our extravagant use of their product this week!)

Mr. Imagination would be Nathan. All it takes is one reading of a story, and he is off (usually with Melanie as the assistant, sometimes Matthew if he's is extra cooperative) making his own version of the story. His latest effort was a ballet dancer.

For ages and ages (more precisely, since the summer) Nathan says he wants to a worker who drives with his special (refrigerated) truck that brings food to the workers in the summer and buy me groceries (cause I hate shopping so much) in the winter. Last night, however, he changed his mind. Actually he wants to be someone who plays songs and makes music. A musician, I assume.

Eh? What's that?

With congestion from my cold, my hearing gets worse. Philip thinks my ability to hear is poor at the best of times, so now it is deplorable.

Good thing he doesn't have much to say to me anyways.

The good thing about this cold is that rendered me incapable of yelling at my wonderful children. They are all stuffed up too, some more than others.

Matthew feels it's his duty, when sick, to wake me up. Just to make sure that I'm okay, since he worries about me more when we're both sick.


Melanie also had a turn last night, but her complaint was that she poked herself in the eye.
The obvious solution: "Don't do that. Now lay quietly so I can go back to sleep."

Melanie (Nathan's gopher) asked if they could move the chairs. She was fortunate enough to be the driver of the train this time. (Such an honour!)

Passengers can be such a nuisance, though, asking her to stop for a minute for this and for that. Nathan, ever the safety conscious one, made the driver stop so he could jimmy up seat belts.


Later they willingly posed for me as Chris, Chris' mom, and baby Hannah.
Aren't they a cute family? Their Daddy is still at work though.
(Actually he's Matthew, and he was napping at the time.)

That was

The first time Daniel cried himself to sleep.

It did us both a lot of good.

Oh, my aching arms. Why keep trying to console a child who does not want to be consoled? I tried fruitlessly and frustratingly. And now all is peaceful and quiet. (In the cradle, at least.)

Crazy busy

So, we have swung from feeling down to feeling crazy busy.
So much that, we've hardly been home,
except with fabulous company.
Which leaves us with the question of

what can we throw together for dinner?

Lethargy

With so much life and enthusiasm around

such smiles and cheer, and wonderful kids to dote on,

why is it so hard to get up in the mornings?

My husband seems to recall that I go through this stage after every baby. Once the excuses for resting and being lazy are gone, and life is back to a schedule, I lose my enthusiasm. I feel lethargic. I have a difficult time feeling the love and care for those I know I should love and care for. Maybe it's because the extent of the new responsibility of another child under my care has finally made it to my subconsciousness, and my gut reaction is to try avoid it. If I stay in bed, if I stay absorbed in the empty feeling of nothingness that comes up whenever I feel tired, then I can easily avoid this reality of responsibility.

Except for my conscience. And those cute smiles. And, of course, the Bible reading and prayer that I still try to maintain. After all, once that is gone, what is left?

It is comforting to know that I've gone through this three times before. I'll probably be over my glum feelings soon. I shall be sure to go out and visit a few times this week and next, and real people and life and all that is "out there" shall soon draw me back to reality.

Baby love

Charming Daniel has many admirers.

With such a winning smile, who wouldn't?

His youngest girlfriend is never happy unless she's snuggled up close beside him.


Even if it means she has to be a bit of a support for her little man. She figures it's good practice for later anyways.

Poor guy, everyone seems to want to smother him.

I do my part too. After all, as I've been trying to teach Nathan, kids need kisses and hugs, or they will stop growing!


And growing he is indeed accomplishing.

(Although, I sometimes worry the quality of his education.)

Note: a baby is much much easier to love first thing in the morning after he has let you have a good sleep at night, but more difficult to appreciate when cranky later on in the day.

Nathan's life

Hello, my name is Nathan,
and I have a lot to say about myself!

Melanie is beautiful because she's a girl,
and I'm not a girl so I must be handsome.
Matthew and Daniel are cute
'cause they're still a bit little.

I like to dress up (don't tell Daddy!)
Right now I'm a pirate,
'cause I've got one of those things tied around me
like real pirates have.
We're having a birthday
so I'm dressed up really nice.

I like to take care of Daniel when he's grumpy in his chair
and I tell him "it's okay" (over and over again).
Sometimes he still keeps on crying
so then I tell Mom that she needs to feed him.

There are so many things to do these days,
and I'm having a hard time getting everything done.
It's a good thing Mommy gives me sugar sometimes
so I have enough engergy.

Sometimes I sit still and color very carefully
and then I usually do three pictures.
It's very hard work, but I make sure I get them all done
before I go off and see what Melanie and Matthew
have been up to since they got bored.

I'm a big help for Mommy; I do lots of vacuuming for her and I pick up the toys and keep Daniel happy and keep an eye on Melanie and Matthew (which Mommy doesn't always like) and I shoveled the driveway the other day but Mommy had to do the last bit at the end of the driveway so that I didn't go on the road and...

Melanie's life

Just so you know, I'm the only girl in the house.
That means all the pink and purple things are MINE.
(Mommies don't count.)

I love to be silly and make up such nonsense
That even my oldest brother thinks I'm a bit much.

My favorite playmate is Cinderhona.
Azheronicoh is mine. Badoo-badoo.

But don't let that silliness fool you,
'Cause underneath I'm really quite smart.

And look at my talented drawing of Matthew!
See the smudges over there?
That's where he got mud all over him.
He's such a messy boy sometimes.

I'm not messy.
See how neatly I can colour?
I do it real fast, that way I have more time
for all the other things I need to do.
After all, I have three brothers now,
And I need to keep up!

It's lots of work to pick up and fetch things all day for Nathan,
but it's also great fun to tease him like crazy
when I don't feel like helping anymore.

High

All I need is three great things to get high:
Delicious food, good books, and great songs.

My progeny appear to agree with me,
as the eat, sing and read simultaneously.

Tonight, I shall suffice with a can of coke,
an inspirational book on children's education,
and an awe inspiring hymn that is stuck in my head.

"And can it be that I should gain
An interest in my Savior’s blood
Died He for me, who caused His pain
For me, who Him to death pursued
Amazing love, how can it be
That Thou my God should die for me
Amazing love, how can it be
That Thou my God should die for me"

That sums me up right now.

(Tomorrow, I fear, I shall be rather low
as that's how moods usually go.)

Matthew's life

People seem to think I'm a trouble maker,
but they just completely misunderstand me.

How am I supposed to know that this in only Daniel's chair?
I'm not even 2 yet, so how would I know?

What I really am, as you really should know,
is Mommy's biggest helper.

I'm sure she loves it when I get real close
and take over what she's doing.
Since I'm much faster and better
than she'll ever be at what she does.

And I also can tell when she most needs a hug.
So I get her to stop her work and give her
what she needs most.

After all, if Daddy's at work,
who else is gonna do it?

Yup, nobody knows just how much
I am needed.
Except me.