Stress!

I had really truly planned to blog 3 times this week and then Monday we got hit with the unexpected. Matthew went in for his 4 year well child check up and Benjamin also had an appointment. Honestly at first the medical assistant and I were sort of confused as to why Benjamin was being seen. The substitute pediatrician had just said in December to bring him back in a month b/c he'd missed a few well baby exams during our life transition while we had no insurance. We were just going to say forget it when the medical assistant suggested we just have him weighed & let our new pediatrician meet him. 

The sh*t sort of hit the fan then. He'd lost weight. A half a pound. Which for most people is no big deal, but for a little baby is really bad news.  For some completely unknown reason my milk supply just has slowly declined. It is incredibly frustrating. 

Today I saw a Lactation Consultant and she was great. She got us a great plan to put in place. 

It makes me sad. I've been so tired, anxious and crying over this. I know for some people this is probably silly. I really love this bond with my baby. I am praying we can get this to work out better. 

I am tired!

Pray for us or send good thoughts! 

On a random side note: Matthew is doing great. He was 40 inches tall and 36 pounds at age 4. For a kid who struggled to put on the weight himself, that is pretty darn awesome! Our once Little Dude is a big dude now!

Matthew is 4 today!!

Can you believe my Little Dude is 4 years old today? I seriously cannot! 4 years doesn't seem that long in the grand scheme of life, but wow has it passed by quickly. I've been a Mommy for 4 years! :-)

With his presents this morning

At 4 years old: Matthew is average size I'd say. In his preschool class he's not the shortest, but not the tallest.  (His 4 year well child exam is on Monday, so we'll get exact stats then!)
He is finally making his way into the rest of the 3T clothes (and I am starting to stock up on 4T)...I thought 2T was going to last forever! He wears size 8 & 9 kid shoes. 

He loves school, firemen, trucks, Spider-Man & Batman (really any super heroes), and helping Mom.

20 questions answered by Matthew
(As found on this blog)
1. What is your favorite color? Yellow
2. What is your favorite toy? Lawn mower (he just got this for his birthday after asking for it for months)
3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Fireman Sam
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Fried Chicken
6. What is your favorite outfit? Construction Site Outfit (Dress up outfit from Melissa & Doug)
7. What is your favorite game? Angry Birds (Not sure where we got this from...we don't own this game.)
8. What is your favorite snack? Tortilla Chips
9. What is your favorite animal? Kitty Cats
10. What is your favorite song? Go Make a Difference
11. What is your favorite book? Comic Books
12. Who is your best friend? Dylan
13. What is your favorite cereal? I don't like cereal.
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Playing with the pool
15. What is your favorite drink? Lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Lambies
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cinnamon Sugar Toast
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Cheeseburger 
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Construction Worker

Plans for his birthday include dinner at Red Robin and a birthday party tomorrow with some friends. (His party theme is dump trucks/construction.)

Friday Favorites 1/15/2016

Link up via here

After prompts for November & December and then sort of flailing around to start the year blogging, I figured "why not do a link up??" Seems simple enough. And I love the blogs who do this one. They all seem like amazing women!

1. These dashboards I made for my Erin Condren planner & for my planner buddy's planner. They turned out so nicely!

2. Compass! I am so thankful I can mentor Navy spouses and hopefully make life a little brighter for them.

3. This Chicken recipe! I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but man is it simple & delicious!

Not my picture...as taken from the recipe link above.

4.  The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

I bought it in August and have slowly read through it and started implementing many of her strategies into my house. If you hate clutter like I do, this lady has the right ideas.  She's also written a new book called "Spark Joy" that shows you and I do mean literally shows you how to do some of her strategies. As a semi-perfectionist....I may have to get this new book too.

5. My tribe! 

By tribe I mean the people in my life who help me out all the time. The women who help by holding one of my kids when I'm teaching or just need to pray during Mass. The ladies at MOPS who let me eat breakfast. The adoptive grandparents in our lives who step in when I can't pick up all 3 kids at one time. My mom who picks up the phone when I call frantically at bedtime.

Mothering is hard and I'm so grateful for my tribe. They are my favorite!

Thursday Random Ramblings!

Has it really been a week since I last blogged?? Yikes! No blog prompts really do let me slack off on this I guess!  This week I was busy teaching Compass (a Navy spouse mentoring program) and on Compass weeks things just do not get done on the regular schedule. I managed to grocery shop on Tuesday like normal, but then the kiddos skipped nap that day. Laundry however has not gotten done...at all! Thankfully we own plenty of clothes.

I know a lot of people don't like being busy, but for me...I need to have things to do or I just sit here wondering what to do with myself.  Then once the busy stuff is done, I can have a low key day and be happy. Low key days more than once or twice a week though is too much for me. It feels lazy. (BTW, not judging anyone who can do a lot of low key days...it's just not for me.)  I am a get dressed and do something kind of person. I like action! To the point that I cannot be productive if I am wearing pajamas or lounge clothes.

Matthew will be 4 really soon. Can we really have a 4 year old?? Wow has time flown by! On Tuesday he asked me when he gets to wear a red sweater to school (the K-8 kids wear a uniform and a red sweatshirt/sweater is part of that) and I may have felt a little sad.  Then I went to answer him and realized we're about 18 months away from starting Kindergarten. WOW!!

Julia....well I've gotten a ton of undies, pull-ups and I have plans to make a chart tomorrow. Potty training will be commencing after her brother's birthday (I'd start sooner, but I won't make my Mom who is coming to visit potty train my kid...that seems unfair.)

Benjamin is growing too fast. I got the jumperoo out of the garage and he's not so sure he likes it. His siblings call it their space ship. Hmm!!!

I finished my first book of 2016! And am now attempting to get through a continued education book. Since I am not really using my degree I try to read a book or 2 on health & human service topics just to feel like I am doing something. The book is dry...I am bored.

My Woodland Cottage planner cover for my Erin Condren planner that my Mom got me for Christmas supposedly has a shipping label created, so I am hoping that it gets to her house before she comes here next week. I really want to see what she picked out....she's hinted, but won't tell me specifically.  One thing I dislike about Etsy is they will say that an item has shipped, but when you really read the tracking it may only be that the label was created. A label doesn't mean that it got to the post office.

Gotta go...the littlest boy is awake from nap!

Thursday Thoughts

It's Thursday. I haven't got a blog prompt to get me started. So I am just going to fill the page up and hope something inspiring/silly/whatever comes to me!

Currently: I am doing nothing productive except browse Etsy shops.

I am listening:  to Benjamin fuss in his crib. He's barely napped today and in general has been a bear lately. Not sure if it's teething more or something else.

I feel: the warmth of Blackie the cat who insists on sharing the chair with me. 

I am wearing: jeans, a University of Alabama t-shirt, a mint colored fleece zip-up and my Cubs hat. (I didn't put any makeup on today, so I tossed the hat on to do preschool pick up.) I promise this doesn't look as bad as it sounds on paper.

I need: to go to Costco when the older kiddos wake up from nap. For some reason I am dreading it. I usually love Costco.

It was: Recycling day today and boy did we have a ton! Glad that stuff is gone. Wish I could recycle half the house right now. I feel cluttered again!

I forgot: to get the fish out for dinner to defrost. Oops! Meal plan A out the window. Now to figure out meal plan B! Matthew will want pizza from Costco, but Mom is tired of that.

I'm loving: the new book I am reading. It's a memoir by a neurosurgeon in England, called "Do No Harm"

I'm watching: the world go by. Haha, not really.  Thanks to my amazing FIL, I am watching some shows via his Dish Network account. I am sure he loves The Bachelor as much as me. I finished the first episode yesterday afternoon.  Now I need to watch Sunday's Downton Abbey episode and I'll be good on tv viewing. 

My oldest: just woke up from his nap. He's been such a good boy lately. They learned about kindness this week in school. I think it has rubbed off on him. He's been my favorite child lately. (Don't lie Moms...we all have a favorite at times...I'll admit it for you all.)

My Daughter:  is still napping. I hope she wakes up happier. She wanted to stay awake & play princesses instead of nap. Unfortunately Mom told her no. 

My youngest: is quiet now. Never mind...he's not. I better go! See you guys later.

2016 has arrived!

I didn't forget, I just wasn't sure where to put this last prompt in on the 31st since I did my yearly review instead. So here it is it....Day 31 was FUN!  And fun we did have!  My kiddos loved New Years Eve. They wore hats and played with noise makers.  Then we put them to bed at their regular time. Benjamin is teething again/more/forever and miserably cranky.

The last picture of 2015!

As for the adults...we played board games, ate snacks and laughed a lot. I barely made it until midnight. I was so exhausted and no sooner did I lay my head down then Benjamin woke up. He's got this pattern going where he sleeps through the night for 2-3 days and then for 4-5 days he's back to waking up 2 times a night. I suppose it's not the worst sleep pattern ever, but man I wish he'd decide what he's doing!

So far 2016 is going alright. I am exhausted, but my planner is ready to start the week on Monday. We are back to work/school and all our other activities. I took down the Christmas decorations yesterday. The house looks so plain again. I am already thinking of next year and the new house we'll hopefully be living in!  There's a lot to look forward to in 2016. New babies (NOT FOR US, but others we love), new homes, moving (God help me I am moving again; it should be the last for awhile), and lots of growth of our children. I can hardly believe we are getting set up to potty train Julia and then send her to preschool in the fall too. Benjamin has a lot of growing to do as well.