Sunday

Well, I'll try to jot a quick note here even though Avery is screaming her head off upstairs and the boys aren't sleeping either! This morning I had a very unusual experience. For the second time in my life I met a friend from the online world. Heather is here from Florida for treatment at Mayo for a brain tumor. Through a series of blog links that I cannot even remember I came across her blog and website. Anyway, I invited her to our church home for the time that she and her husband are here which could be days, weeks or longer. It was such a joy to meet her and her husband Mark. Please stop by her site and read her story. She obviously tells it much better than I!

Well, I tried to get a picture of the boys on here for today, but it didn't work. Oh well. I'm sorry and will try again later!

Not even trying

I'm not even trying to catch everyone up on my life in the past week. I've been a stinky blogger and I'm just jumping in where we are! We've had plenty of cute kid quotes, only one of which I remember off hand. Evan was in the midst of discipline a few nights ago (again). Jim quoted him a verse that was perfectly convicting in the area of the offense. Evan said, "I don't think I like that verse very much!" Toby and Aidan both do and say things that crack me up, but of course I can't remember them. Avery had her 2 month shots on Wednesday. She slept from noon to six today and went to bed peacefully just now at 8:00 pm. I hate to say it out loud, but we may have turned a corner. Earlier in the week we had two nights of 3-4 hours of blood curdling screaming her head off crying. Today, nothing. She's been on zantac since Jim's mom died over a week ago and it does seem to have helped.

As for the funeral, it was nice. We had to sit in the front row which with a 6 year old and a 3 year old isn't as fun as you might think. I finally bribed Aidan that he could have dessert after the dinner if he sat still and was quiet for the rest of the funeral. Yes, in MN we have a dinner after a funeral. A musical called "Church Basement Women" refers to it as the "dead spread". The Lutheran church basement women did not disappoint! I had over 5 dozen ham and turkey sandwiches and 5 tubs of different types of salad (two had jello as their main ingredient) left over. Schaeffer got a nice lunch the next day!

We have all been doing really well with the loss of Grandma. Evan has been extra sassy and squirrly. Toby has been extra clingy. Aidan has been extra good. He even mentioned that he misses Grandma. He says his favorite thing to do with Grandma was to play cards. I'll see if I can find the picture of them. It's really cute!

Anway, that's it from our end of things!

A new woman

Well, the Little Miss is amazing! Last night she cried on and off (mostly on) for 3 hours. Then proceeded to sleep for 9!!!!!!!!!! I actually was smart and went to bed at 10, then she woke up at 6, nursed, and is asleep even as I type this at 7:30! What on earth am I going to do with myself???

Baby in the Bathroom

Well, a while ago I posted about Toby sleeping in the closet. I'm proud to report that I now have another baby sleeping in a weird place! Yesterday I discovered that Avery sleeps well in the bathroom downstairs with the exhaust fan running. I think she has the dreaded "C" word...colic. She's on zantac when I can get it in her. Tastes nasty! I've spent hours holding a baby who is stiff and screaming in my ears only to have her puke cottage cheese on me, let a huge diaper area bomb loose and then fall sound asleep. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood.

Quick update

Just a quick update here. Jim's mom passed away this morning around 9:00 am.

Update

I thought I'd better jot down a quick update before anyone worries too much about last night's post. Avery had a much better night last night. She woke up at midnight for a quick feed. After that she curled up in that newborn curled up frog position on my chest complete with little bursts of milky newborn breath on my neck. Good thing she's cute. She was also up at 4:30, this time for about 45 minutes. Much better than 2 hours! Thanks for the prayers and notes of concern last night and this morning. We're doing fine. Thanks!

Prayer requested

We are really under stress around here. Little Miss Avery is really having a tough time right now in falling to and staying asleep. Crying on and off for hours is not uncommon, day and night. Last night I was up for two hours alternating between nursing and trying to transfer a sleeping baby to the crib. Co-sleeping isn't much better; believe me, I've tried! Anyway, the boys are getting stressed (and neglected I'm afraid), I'm stressed and of course Jim is stressed! With the lack of sleep I'm having difficulty maintaining myself as well (not the house, just emotionally keeping up with life). Add to this the fact that Jim's mom isn't doing well. They signed up for hospice care a few weeks ago. It's just a matter of "hurry up and wait" to see how long we have Grandma here making memories with her and the grandkids. Plus, we're looking to relocate (within the area) to gain some land, gain some breathing and running room for boys and lose a bad neighbor. Anyway, I'd appreciate prayers for our family in the coming weeks as we adjust to these three major life changes! Thanks.

Easter pics

Since it takes forever to load a picture on my computer I decided to make these smaller. Anyway, aren't they adorable?? How was your Easter?

Easter week

In honor of Easter week, I'd like to share the following site. No peeps were harmed in the making of this site.