New Beginnings

Nearly a month has passed since Miriam has joined our family... pregnancy and gestational diabetes and braxton hicks and 43-week giant bellies and major overdue-ness already seem like a distant memory.  If it wasn't for the last remnants of water retention that make my hands tingle and my shoes still a little snug, I would almost believe that we've had this new little one for many months already.

Now we are 4 weeks in, settling in as a family of 6 and I'm enjoying the feeling that our "quiver" is finally complete.

(10 days old)

After Miriam was born, the rest of August passed by in a blur.  A good blur - but a blur nonetheless.  We were blessed to have my mom here for 2 weeks after she was born and it allowed me to focus on feeding and sleeping and enjoying a cute and cuddly newborn.

The kids enjoyed having Granny around too - baking, puzzling, shopping, laughing at episodes of "I Love Lucy", and you-tubing funny animal videos on her ipad :)

We've also been so thankful for many different friends who have blessed us with meals and treats over these last weeks.  We've been well-fed and our freezer is stocked with some extras that we can pull out on the crazier days in the weeks to come.  And with gestational diabetes in my past and my insane nursing-mama hunger I have been appreciating the end of my diet restrictions.  I may or may not have enjoyed several of my friend's famous Skor cookies in one sitting...  (*sheepish grin*)  

The kids have adjusted quite well to having a baby in the house, but it still is an adjustment.  The evenings are generally Miriam's fussier time and in a small house the kids can hear her crying as they're trying to fall asleep.  The other night at about 9:30 Micah came out, all bleary-eyed, and suggested to me, "Why don't you try rocking her?"  (As if I hadn't already been pacing the living room, shushing and patting my brains out??  Thanks for the parenting advice, buddy... But please, go back to bed.)

Keziah loves her baby sister but has had the hardest time adjusting to how much time Mommy needs to spend with the baby.  It seems I'm always nursing her or rocking her or changing her when Keziah needs me.  But maybe it's because Keziah seems to need me a lot these days.  She's been a bit more over-dramatic and whiny in general and I'm trying to be patient as I remind myself of what she's probably experiencing through this huge change in our family.  

(Bath time - about 2 weeks old)

We've had several visits with our 2 midwives in the last 4 weeks and Miriam weighed 9 lbs 15 oz at her last visit (3.5 weeks old).  I loved my experience with the midwives at West Coast Health Collective.  It almost makes me wish we could do it all over again.

Almost.

Miriam even gave her a little smirk for the picture :)

Speaking of smirks, Miriam has been offering us rare smiles for the last week or so.  I have yet to capture a good one on camera, but you know that once I do I'll be instagramming that baby :)  This morning after I fed her and she dozed back into dreamland, she actually smirked and chuckled.  I kid you not.  She has not laughed in real life yet, but apparently she laughs in her sleep.  Let's hope this is a hint of a happy kid in our future??

And just as we've gotten settled into a sort of loose routine, we've been thrown into the back-to-school craziness...

Since school ended in June I've been slightly anxious about how a new school year was going to go.  Micah had a really, really tough time at the beginning of Grade 2 last year.  Crying, running from his classroom, clinging to my body and fearing that I wouldn't come back for him at the end of the day.  It took almost all year to work through his fears and anxieties only to know that we would have to start all over again with a new teacher and a new classroom for Grade 3.  The first morning those familiar fears started to surface for him but we were able to talk through it and he went willingly into his classroom despite some tears.  The next few days were completely fine and on Friday afternoon he announced that he wished it wasn't the weekend because he wanted to go back to school. Let's just say we are feeling very thankful!

Silas gets a new beginning this year too as he goes to preschool 3 mornings a week.  Yesterday was an open-house for parents and kids to meet the teacher and see the classroom.  He was pumped!  When he got there he wanted to know where his desk was and was disappointed to realize that preschoolers don't  actually have their own desks...  He had actually brought his own "homework" from home and proceeded to work on it at the art table.

This kid is definitely a character.

 As always, Keziah was quietly excited about a new school year and seeing all her friends in Grade 2. All 3 kids have fantastic teachers and I'm feeling good about how this year is going to go.

The school mornings will be an adjustment with a new baby in the mix.  Miriam has added a whole new element to the morning routine.  Thankfully she sleeps quite well at night.  Last night was her best night yet - a 5 and a half hour stretch followed by another 3 and a half hours.  And most nights she eats quickly and goes straight back to sleep.  So I can forgive her brief naps and fussy evenings if our nights continue to go this way...

Now, if only I could figure out a way to bottle her newborn-ness and save it up for the years to come, I totally would...