Catch up

This Winter has been one filled with sickness.  We just keep getting sick.  It's been about two weeks since anyone has gotten sick now so I'm hoping with Spring coming that we are finally over all the sickness.  This past week I sprained my ankle.  We weren't sure if I had broken it or not.  I could walk on it but it was super painful and swollen and bruised.  I was holding the baby when I fell down the last few steps of the stairs.  I did some awesome ninja twist to make sure I didn't fall on the baby and she fell on my cushy belly.  I had an x-ray and we couldn't see any breaks so I guess I just sprained it pretty bad.  It still hurts and is slightly bruised but the swelling has gone down.  In an attempt to save me, Mike came running down the stairs and hurt his back.  We were quite a pair for a few days.  

Last week our furnace also broke.  We have warm air upstairs but downstairs the furnace broke and it was down right chilly.  I woke up to 63 degrees downstairs.  That week we had some chilly weather, one day the high was only 45 so we bundled up and Mike fixed our fireplace (which was also broken) and turned it on at 5 AM so that when I got up with baby we wouldn't freeze.  We still do not have a furnace even though it's been over a week since the repair man came.  He said it has to be replaced entirely.  It frustrates us quite a bit since the weather is now warming up and it's doubtful we will need the furnace anymore this year.  Sadly, the houses were built with package units so the A/C is tied to it and therefore, the A/C has to be replaced with it.  Since we are moving in a few months we won't even get to enjoy the new furnace.  Such a waste. 

We are supposed to find out where we are moving to any day now.  We have been waiting for months.  We were hoping we would know in January but figured it would be Feb.  Here we are in March though and still don't know.  We are pretty sure that it will be Florida or New Mexico.  We asked for Florida but I think we would be happy either place.  There are so many positives for either one.  Truthfully, I think Albuquerque is more our style and fits our family better but we really want to experience something different than we've ever done so Florida seemed like a better choice.  I have just been praying the the Lord will send us wherever our family will be the most happy.  

We are almost done now with our required amount of days for homeschool (180).  We should have all our days in by mid-April.  Thankfully, we are just about finished with our Math and English curriculum so then we will just spend the rest of the time finishing up Science, History, and Writing.  The pregnancy and arrival of Felicity has made our year somewhat boring and chaotic but I am not sure that I expected a whole lot more from me this year.  I still think the kids have received a better education this year than they would have if they had gone to school even if we haven't done very many cool things this year.  One thing we still have coming up is a Science Fair.  Will has always wanted to participate in one and Mike agreed to help the kids each choose a project and then hold our own Science Fair.

This past few months we have also been participating in basketball.  All three boys played and they were each on separate teams so we spent two days a week at practice and then from 9:30 AM to 2 PM each Saturday at basketball games.  It was a lot but the kids had such a good season this year.  They all made huge improvements and each had incredible coaches.  They enjoyed it so much that they have asked to play soccer.  Even Piper wants to play this time so we are in for a few more busy months.  I am nervous about how our weeks are going to look like but I think it's good for them to be involved with other kids as well as stay active.  It should be fun!

Finally, Felicity is 3 months now!  She had her first immunizations last month and gets some more next week.  I am still convinced that she has a tongue tie but her doctor said she didn't.  Regardless, she is still not a great eater and I believe it is affecting my milk supply.  I am not sure how long I will produce milk and I'm considering supplementing.  Sometimes she will wake up at night with only a slightly wet diaper when I would think it should be nice and soggy.  I have to keep rags under me when she nurses because otherwise my entire side is soaked with milk from her not getting a good enough latch and drooling all down my side while she eats.  She spits up more than any of my babies as well.  She is still taking medicine for reflux and I think that helps her but she gets crazy hiccups all day.  She also has a slightly forked tongue.  The other issue with her eating is that it takes her almost a full hour to eat.  In some ways it's nice because I can use that as an excuse to just sit and relax but other times it just feels like forever!  It's especially hard when the other kids need my help and I'm stuck feeding the baby for that long or when I'm in the middle of preparing dinner but she needs to eat, bringing dinner prep to a halt.  I don't know, we'll figure it out.  

As far as her sleeping, it's getting much better.  She sleeps through the night most nights now, which is way sooner than her siblings.  Her naps still need a bit of work but I've seen progress.  Some days she will go to sleep easily and take a good nap followed by days of just being awake most of the day.  Other days I can get her to go to sleep somewhat easily but she won't stay asleep longer than 15-30  minutes.  I'm not really sure what the difference is but as long as we are making progress, I'm okay with that.  Most nights she cries herself to sleep but it doesn't seem to take her too long.  We usually have to do a 2 min check, 5 min check, and then a 10 min check and then she goes to sleep.  She doesn't always go to sleep so easily for her naps though.  Sometimes we have to do checks the entire hour and she doesn't ever actually go to sleep.  But again, she is doing way better than any of her siblings were at this point so I'm calling it a success.  

Life is full.