Why Write?

I can see a little bit how things are going to be for me in the days and weeks to come: BUSY! This was Ben's first full week of back-to-school life (started with students on Thursday but meetings all the days prior to that) and even with full-time help from Grandma (my mom), the week was a bit of a whirlwind. And who has time to write when your whirling?

Normally I sneak in posts during nap time or in the early evenings and of course, like today, on the weekends. But even then it can be tricky and can easily get pushed to the back burner. This week we focused instead on some house projects including an awesome sign for our front entryway, planning a fence project, and hanging up some beautiful family photos we had taken last month. Just adding those three little activities to our nights, which tend to be Lincoln-centered with lots of little nursing and holding sessions, made the week fly right on by. As a side note...I've said it a lot to Ben lately, but more and more I realize just how happy I am with my decision to take this semester off from teaching. I know I've only done one to two classes/nights per week in the past, so it may not seem like such a big deal to get that time back, but knowing that I don't have to figure out how to get myself ready and out to campus each week (not to mention finding time to grade all those papers!) is a huge relief right now.

Instead I can focus on figuring out what our weeks are going to look like now that Ben's back to work. We have just a couple weeks left in August and then preschool will begin again for Harrison, so that will be the start of our real routine. Until then we're just trying to get from breakfast to supper in one piece. The good news is that, for the most part, we've been highly successful thus far in these attempts and I can only hope that with the practice of each new day, we'll get better and better. (I say for the most part because, well, poor Lincoln - his big sister loves him SO and is SO proud of herself for learning the names for various body parts...I have to keep a very close watch on her to make sure she doesn't pull off a toe or poke out an eye as she identifies them on him.)

Obviously life with three is a bit of a juggling act. Just trying to get through breakfast takes a lot of patience, not to mention time thanks to Miss Raegan's big appetite. I tell you, the girl eats like a 15-yr-old boy some days! Lately she's been eating 10-12 (or more) bowls of cereal in the morning. Now, those are toddler-sized bowls, but I am not exaggerating on the number. I dump some of whatever kind she points to and declares "MORE!" for in the bowl, add some milk and then wait while she downs it, just to start the whole cycle over again (and again and again). Did I mention she totally feeds herself? That's Ben's doing from the summer and it is messy but also kind of brilliant because my hands are full of a million other little chores, so I don't mind that the 21-mo-old is driving her own spoon and drinking her own milk from the bowl. But it is also pure craziness, I assure you. Also crazy? She totally said, "More lellow!" the other day while pointing to the Cherrios box. This girl may end up keeping us on our toes even more than her older brother!

The rest of the day continues in much the same fashion with various children pointing at various activities and requesting "MORE!" MORE Angry Birds (both on the Kindle and off), MORE books (Dear Me, I think I spent an hour or more of combined time yesterday reading Berenstain Bear books out loud to the kiddos), MORE checking on Baby Linky (yep - that nickname is definitely here to stay), MORE cheese (why do they love cheese so much?), and so on and so on. I also have to squeeze in regular meal/nursing times and nap times for RL and LT and diaper changes and yeah....a whirlwind it is, especially if we add in any extras like appointments or visits with friends, etc. Of course the only way I will survive this fall is with the help of friends and family, so I don't really care how crazy that makes the day - it will keep me from going crazy!

The other sanity saver will be my writing. This is how I sort and process and remember, so whirling or not, I've got to do my best to stick with it. I hope you'll stick with us, too. I love to hear back from you all when you read these little stories; it helps me feel connected as a parent and a person, too. And goodness knows, life is all about connection.