I was wrong.

I don't like to be wrong, but...

Those were all pictures of a 6 month old Genna and they look an awful lot like Judah.  I did not think he looked like Genna when he was a newborn, but now that he is older he really does.  I thought he looked like Hannah for the longest time, and I thought like Hannah he would grow to fit his big eyes, but I guess not.  All my kids look similar though.  Here they are even posing similarly.

Judah (and precious godson too!)

Genna

I am Drew, hear me roar!

Drew is learning to play Memory here.  He is also working on Uno.

My Godson

We went to Colonial Williamsburg last week for a few days and my godson and his family were able to come meet us for the main day.  Judah is exactly 2 months older than Ned and a whole lot louder.  :)

They both smiled at the same time the minute I turned off the camera, of course.

A failed attempt at getting a group picture of the kids, but it proves we were there.

Hey Jude: 7 months

 Judah has been doing better with his sleeping just the last 5 days or so.  I hesitate to even record this since he has gone through short periods of sleeping well only to return to waking at night or waking insanely early in the morning again for long periods.  He can't seem to get that average that I think he needs.  Anyway, I going to record it if for no other reason than for me to look back at when I feel like the lack of sleep will last forever.  With the exception of today this has been his schedule for almost a week.

Wake and nurse @ 6/6:30am

 Nap @ 8:30am

Wake and nurse @ 10:30am 

Nap @ 12:30pm

Wake and nurse @ 2pm 

Nap @ 4pm

Wake @5pm

Nurse and eat solids @5:30pm

Bedtime @7:20pm

Nurse @10pm

This week we tried oatmeal, pears, and carrots.  Pears were the favorite of the three, but still only ate about half of a jar in one sitting.  I mashed some carrots from my homemade chicken soup and he ate a few of those.   Oatmeal was a total flop though, both baby oatmeal and  real oatmeal blended up.  He loves the bananas in the mesh eater though.

He likes sitting better.  He still tips eventually, and I am putting the Boppy behind him.  He enjoyed the tupperware cabinet a couple times the week.

His rash is better some days.  Still watching it.

The biggest change for him though has been that we are not swaddling him and he is sleeping on his tummy now.  I had him in a sleep sack that has one arm sewn up as a transition, but he is really not needing that.  Yay for tummy sleeping!  Right before that I moved him out of his bassinet and into the pack-n-play since Drew is still using his crib.  We almost have the boys' bunk beds set up, but I am holding off a little longer before moving Drew out of the crib.  He's a stubborn guy sometimes and I don't want to risk bedtime battles when everything is going so well the way it is.

Speaking of Judah and Drew, these boys are polar opposites.  Drew was a great eater and sleeper.  Judah is neither of those.  Drew was super loud.  Judah isn't too loud of a babbler.  Judah's cry is awful to listen to, whereas, Drew's was no big deal.  Judah cries more than Drew did.  Judah like you to sing to him.  Drew really didn't and still doesn't like singing.   Drew screamed when people kissed and hugged him.  Judah squeals with delight.   Judah is sensitive and gets startled and scared easily, but Drew has always been tough.  So different!

Lent

 This Lent the kids are enjoying an old favorite, the crown of thorns.

We always give up desserts since it seems wrong to be eating candy or cake during a time of sacrifice and prayer.  As a family, we are trying to say the Morning Offering in the mornings and go to daily Mass at least once a week.  These have been harder than I thought since Judah has had a tough month for sleeping which is just now starting to improve.

The girls also packed up about half of their toys in their rooms to put away for Lent.  Hannah is trying to replace her "mean" or "mad" faces with smiles.  Genevieve is trying not to cry about schoolwork.  I gave up yelling, to which Genna said, "But Mom, you don't really yell."  Then she followed that up by, "Well, except when you are trying to talk over all the noise."  Bingo!  I am so not a natural yeller.  I don't like loud noises, so why would I make them, right?  Well, when it gets overwhelmingly loud, I totally yell over the noise to make it stop immediately.  This makes me feel more frustrated inside, so it is not a good plan.  I would rather learn to cope with the noise that 5 kids make sometimes in a different quieter way.   After having a baby, I am much less likely to tolerate loud noise.  So this has been a good practice in self-control for me. 

In Memory of Miscarried Babies

A friend of mine miscarried recently.  It was her fifth miscarriage, and I really wanted to make something for her to remember the babies.  I thought of this when I found the pattern for a smaller quilt square in a quilting magazine.  I made her an enlarged version of the square to hang on her wall.  It is not at all perfect.  I am quite the inexperienced, rushed, and the "I'm not ripping all that out for that one tiny mistake!" kind of quilter for this phase in my life.  So if you are a quilter or just a perfectionist, like my husband (okay and maybe myself), then you may see the mistakes.   I, however, am going with the "It's the thought that counts!"  motto and the "I have 5 children, I homeschool 3 of them, I need to feed my people (which includes a very hungry 6 month old,) I need the house to be somewhat organized and clean, and I am way behind on all kinds of stuff." excuse.  Plus, my friend is one of those people who truly appreciates everything, so I know it will be well-loved despite my mistakes.

The names of each baby are enbroidered on the squares that make up the house.  On the roof it has their last name and the word saints written after it.  I chose some left over fabrics specifically for their pattern or color.  The sky background is blue with stars.  The green plaid is to be the grass.  The gray pattern is to represent a road or porch.  

Stubborn Little Toot

 He may look sweet and innocent, but he can definitely dig in his heels and be a stubborn little toot.  The other day, he threw Uno cards all over the floor.  He refused to pick them up even after many, many spankings and time outs.  He ended up in bed with no stories or even teeth brushed (he refused to open his mouth) with the Uno cards moved to the floor of his room awaiting his awakening in the morning to pick them up.

We keep getting the snow!  Here's Ralphie's little brother from the Christmas story ready to go out in the snow. 

I built him this baby snowman.

Band of Brothers

I love these pictures!

I love these boys!

Seriously, how does a mother not absolutely die from loving her children too much!

Its truly a miracle.  Judah can scream like no other and need only me to hold him while I am doing six other things and wake me up before the crack of dawn, but that smile with that dimple makes me want to hug and squeeze him to pieces.  Oh and don't forget the eyes!

Drew can tell me he doesn't miss me or pretty much say anything in the world and I think he is the cutest thing ever!  His personality is a winner, this kid.  He is going to make things happen.  He's the only kid that I have to discipline a million times a day and I am trying not to kiss him as I am carrying him to timeout.

Isaac is the slowest of slow!  He doesn't listen and drives me bonkers, but his cheeks are the softest and he is the first one to offer me a piece of his chocolate candy.  I love him so much!  I'm betting on him being a really great husband even though he wants to be a priest like St. John Bosco.

Moving on up!

 Judah is 6 + months and had his well check this week.  Last Monday he had his first taste of food.  Since Drew got so constipated after starting food, I opted to start with peas and then prunes.  The first day went okay, but the next evening he was pitching a fit about it, so he only had about 5 bites.  The next day he did much better and seemed to eat happily, but he is eating very small amounts before he starts pulling his bib off.  He wins the prize for the kid to pull his bib off the earliest.  He does it multiple times during every meal so far.

Peas!

Judah is sitting better and rolling both ways now.  He is still swaddled and on his back most of the time at night since he just seems super content that way.  Even if he is majorly not happy, the minute I swaddle him up he closes his eyes and calms down.

Big sis helping mom out with the fussy guy.

 Judah's had a rough month and I am hoping better times are acomin' for him.  He's just not happy a good portion of the day.  The worst part is just that he doesn't want anything other than me to carry him around in my arms, not even for me to wear him in the wrap, ergo, or sling.  He's heavy now, so if he would just let me wear him, it would be so much easier.

Judah playing on the floor next to daddy (off camera) while he set up my new vacuum.  I have had the same vacuum since we first got married and it was time for a new one.  I got the Shark Rocket Lightweight.  It seems great so far and is super versatile.  The best part is that it can go up and down the stair easily.

Judah is learning to sit better in the last week or so.  He still always pushes back or goes forward onto his tummy when he can't reach his toys anymore.

He seems to like it a lot more than being flat.

At his check up he weighed just shy of 19.8 lbs and was 27 1/4 inches long.  He's still the smallest boy, but certainly doesn't seem so with his giant belly and roly poly legs.  He had a few issues that I addressed with the doctor (not our regular doctor this time).  He has a rash on his trunk and back of his neck that has been there since shortly after his 4 month check up (2 weeks late).  The doctor recommended changing laundry detergents since I had already tried eliminating scented soaps/lotions and using Eucerin cream.  He also had a skin reaction to yogurt both times I tried it.  So she recommended holding off on dairy for a while.  Then I found an activated lymph node at the back of his neck a few days before his appointment.  She told me to keep an eye on it and come back if it is not gone or decreased in size in a few weeks, if it gets bigger, or I find more.

His yogurt reaction

Baby Giggles

Judah turned 6 months on Friday.  Here is a video of him laughing at his bestest big brother. 

Isaac can always make him laugh.  Well, not always, but a lot!  He really lights up with both of his brothers, but especially Isaac.

More on Genna!

 Genna learned how to make deviled eggs and fresh squeezed orange juice last week.  Her stirring skills needs some work, but I am confident that that will come in time.  Hannah was disappointed that she didn't get to learn this yet, but she made part of dinner one night last week.  She learned to make home-made baked macaroni and cheese.  It was delicious!

Proud Genna with her deviled eggs and OJ

Genna is a little ham sometimes.  She brought me her half completed handwriting this past week to show me something silly.  She was supposed to copy the word "tax" in cursive, but instead she had crossed it out and written (in print, no less) "no taxation without representation."  I'm glad she is learning something in History this year.  I was most impressed that it was spelled correctly since my girls are not natural spellers.

It was hard to get a picture of with my old camera.

Genna's 1st Reconciliation

Genevieve received her First Reconciliation last Monday night.  She had been fairly nervous in the months leading up to this day, but we did a lot of talking about it, different examination of consciences with the whole family, and even a practice run through with Isaac as the priest.

Genna planned to go behind the screen so we set up our pretend confessional using the pantry door.  They had scripts that I typed out.  I wrote some common kids sins and a couple of crazy ones that I know she hasn't done.  Hannah did the first practice run with Isaac since she is an old pro at this now so Genna could watch.  Then Genna gave it a go.  She's smiling because, "it feels weird calling Isaac Father."

Everything went well.  She ran back and was the first one in the confessional which was quite different from Hannah being indecisive about which line to get in and being almost last.  She felt Great! afterwards she said.  We carried on the tradition of getting Frostys from Wendys after for all the kids and giving her flowers.  Instead of a family dinner before like last year, we did a lunch with friends (their daughter was receiving her sacrament as well) earlier in the day.

A Wedding in West Virginia: 5 children will attend

Crazy!  The bride even had little bags with things to do for the children at the reception.  I was worried that our kids would be some of the only kids there, but there were tons.  In fact, this was the most packed wedding I have ever been to.

Mistake #1 for me at this wedding is defying the laws of nursing and wearing a dress that zips up in the back.  I've done it once before and I managed okay, but this time Judah was not nearly so patient.

Mistake #2  was thinking Judah would take a nap at the reception when he was already off schedule.  He was great during the actual wedding, but he screamed a lot during the reception.  Luckily, there was a big, clean  bathroom with chairs.  I spent a good amount of time in there during the quieter moments of the reception.  Drew pretended to be different super heroes, entertaining people as they washed their hands, while I nursed, changed, or calmed Judah.  Once the party got started and the noise level was high, I was able to push him in the stroller for a couple of minutes while he cried himself to sleep.  He was overly tired for sure.

The girls were watching the bride.

Dancing fools

This guy was so tired by the end he was just rolling around on the dance floor.  He wouldn't let me hold him.  I was afraid he was going to be stepped on by some high heels or something, so it was time to go.

A Tea Party

The birthday girl is the princess at the head of the table!

Look at the beautiful cake!  Hannah and Genna had a wonderful time.  They tied for first place in the first game and decided to share the prize instead of do a tie breaker.

The birthday girl's brothers served as butlers/ushers. 

Isaac was a butler too.  They stole the show with their mustaches and ear pieces.

Hannah is ushered to her seat for the tea luncheon.

Look at Isaac in the corner with the tea towel on his arm.

Drew joined us halfway through and tried on the mustache.

He was banished to the servant's table for his lunch.  :)

Pinata fun in the mud

Genna was the one who busted it open.  Hannah didn't get a turn.  Strong little girls!

Chaos Candy Grab

The birthday girl loves Frozen and Anna and received many gifts surrounding that theme, including the wig to go with her costume!

Rumor is she wants to wear it to school.