Super Saturday

Diana is 6 weeks old now, one of those landmarks where the new infant look fades into the older infant look. She's adjusted to the fact that yes she is outside of my tummy... and has begun exploring her world just a little bit. She bangs toys with her hand but doesn't really have much control over her movements. She has given a few genuine smiles, but usually gets so worked up trying to communicate an emotion that she ends up spitting up :-) She pulled an all-nighter a few days ago (9pm-5am!)  and I'm still amazed at how consistently she lets me at least get 4 hour stretches of sleep. My Father in Heaven hears the prayers of my heart! It has definitely been a constant prayer since before Diana was even born!

In celebration of the last Saturday before school starts, we had a day packed with fun! Whenever we had spare time, Nicole got to pick what to do next and she got to choose whatever she wanted for breakfast. She felt really special! First up we had pancackes, and then it was our turn to help clean the church so I coralled the younger kids of the families that came while Nicole and Jim helped everyone else clean. The boys loved drawing on the mobile chalkboard, racing their bikes, and throwing balls.

All of the youth ages 14 and up in our church put on a production as a part of their Youth Conference. Their dress rehearsal was their "family friendly" version for those with noisy little ones. Since that is our family to a T, we went to that time slot and the kids really enjoyed it, although they kept trying to talk. My kids have never even been to a movie theater, so experiencing the pitch dark and then the loud noises really kept their attention. Jacob, on the other hand, loved the dark because he could crawl under the seat and escape without detection. Fortunately we heard his squeals of glee when he escaped that helped us track him down. We left during intermission since Jacob was getting a bit much, but we really enjoyed it. The youth in our ward did some waltzing as part of their production and they did a great job. The play "Arise and Shine Forth" (I think that was the name) was about the history of America and how the scriptures and prophecies align with that, and I'm not sure what the second half was about but it was great.

Nicole and Jim went with Mike and Jake to the pool and they swam for a while- Michael even jumped off the diving board by himself for the first time! We washed the cars as well. After a trips to the library and store with me, I gave Nicole a pedicure with some sparkly blue polish while she ate oranges and watched a movie we rented- the Mickey Mouse version of the Three Musketeers. Paradise!

For dinner the kids made their own personal pizzas. Nicole kept asking me if I noticed how hers was "the big one", Jacob kept trying to eat his dough before we cooked it, and Michael refused any sauce.

Nicole got playdough at church and shared with Michael. A few minutes later they had discovered straws, ice cream schoops, knives and tongs somewhere and were making all sorts of creations!

Our sweet Diana.

Survival Tactics

Having four kids at home can be challenging. Let me share some of the survival tactics that work for our family.

Tactic #1: A bedroom clock in the kids room! Not only does this help Nicole learn to read time, but it allows me to have a more normal morning instead of worrying about Diana's wakeup times and the sometimes insanely early - 5am-wakeup times of the kids during the early daylight of summer. I taught Nicole how to wait for the smallest line to reach 7 before she and Michael can come down the stairs. They sleep in the playroom, so they just play until it's time and let Jake out of his room on the way down. Sometimes they forget, but one morning they were playing so happily they didn't come down until 7:30!

 Tactic #2: Sweat it out. We've gone to the park (made the mistake of trying library storytime!) in the 85 degree weather and high humidity and they get their wiggles out at a huge park a few minutes drive away. At the end of our trip, I have them run in the baseball field to the fence and back. When they get back I congratulate them and tell them they must be so tired and have no energy. This prompts them to show me all of their energy by running all the way to the fence and back again. Enough times of this and we're all ready to go home. Side note: Can anyone tell me what color Michael's eyes are?

Tactic #3: Protect Diana. The pack n play is the best defense for Diana against siblings tripping or stepping on her (not that this has EVER happened with any of our children).

This toy's arc helps protect her as well :-) Her vision is getting slowly better and I can tell that she is looking at and swatting at more. I get so excited for all of these little developments because I know how much she will enjoy her world!

And when she has tummy time, she's on a quilt they know they can't step on. Diana has been doing really well. She does 4 and 5 hour stretches of sleep at night like a veteran. All of my other kids took around 8 weeks to get there. We keep things loud, light, and not swaddled during the day and quiet, dark and swaddle her at night. Maybe because the "loud" portion of things has upped a notch since having Jake, she sleeps better. I feel so blessed, although I still feel exhausted and like the walking dead a lot. My poor bathroom mirror! :-) I hope by the time Nicole starts Kindergarten in a few weeks I'll be more ready.

Tactic #4: Fun at home! I had the kids help me make cupcakes and they LOVED helping. I really, really want all of my kids to be capable in the kitchen. Nicole cracked the eggs without a single shell falling in (thanks to her Grandma Ostler for the lesson!) and Michael and Jake loved helping pour ingredients in. I might not be able to take them all over the place or pay for summer camps (paying for Diana's 10k delivery took the wind out of those sails!) but we can sure find fun at home if I take the time to do it!

Tactic #5: New experiences. The kids have enjoyed watching Swiss Family Robinson lately and asked about the coconuts the older boys drink from when they are sailing around the island. I got a coconut from the store (my shopping day is now Saturday when Jim can watch the kids!) and they had fun watching Dad drill a hole to get the milk, then hammer it open to get the coconut.

Video of Nicole with Diana and Diana at 2 Weeks

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