7 Quick Takes

~~1~~

I've started reading Simplicity Parenting. It's a good read so far. I've been working on simplifying our toy collection, and Steven and I are both trying to heed the author's advice to keep adult conversation topics to ourselves. The big thing I need to work on is routine. It's not natural for me at all, so I feel like I'm in a constant battle with my body to get going in the morning and find a good routine for our days. I'm not that far into the book yet, but I've heard great reviews from both real and online friends.


~~2~~

Speaking of simplicity...we sure had a simple week at home. Our only commitment was ballet class on Tuesday and I think that's the only time the kids have even left the house! They spent hours sitting in the windowsill watching them tear up and pour a new driveway next door...a good science lesson! I love when they just enjoy an afternoon making houses and castles and such with blocks and their wooden peg people. And I love how Mary Clare wears her hats around the house!

~~3~~
Alone Time! The one time I did get out "alone" (i.e. with the baby), was a nice trip to the dermatologist. Always fun! Wanted to get some new meds for the chronic eczema I have on my hands and more importantly to find out what this random rash on my back is! I woke up Tuesday morning with dozens of "bites" on my back. The doctor just thought it was a breakout but did a culture to be sure, which we'll get back on Monday. My body always has some weird thing going on!

And you may have noticed I totally fell off the bandwagon with the Couch to 5k running program. I am having a really hard time getting the weight off after this pregnancy. I guess each time it gets harder and harder. I need to be eating better but would also love to figure out some way to exercise. It's so hard when Steven works so late and I've always got 4 kids with me! One day I'll make it back to my beloved Zumba classes....

~~4~~
We've been talking about First Holy Communion and First Reconciliation preparation on one of my online message boards. Some of the top recommended resources were: Faith and Life book 2, The New St. Joseph's First Communion Catechism, The New St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism, The King of the Golden City (including free study guide PDF from Catholic Heritage Curriculum--find by googling), and The Weight of a Mass. We've got all of them and I started reading the beautiful King of the Golden City allegory this week.

And bible stories: Adam and Eve and the Fall, Moses and the 10 Commandments, Abraham and Isaac, the Passover, The Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Good Shepherd, the Last Supper, and John 6 (Bread of Life discourse). Lots of great things to cover this semester; it'll be especially meaningful to study this during the Lenten season. It should be such a joyful Easter this year!

~~5~~
We're also learning some Latin since we've been attending Latin Mass these days. We're about halfway through the Our Father. The girls love it! I really enjoy studying different languages and look forward to learning Latin and studying Spanish with the kids too. I'm considering starting Prima Latina with them soon.

~~6~~
Amazon Mom
I know lots of people are mentioning this, but I am loving the Amazon Mom program! It's free to join and offers free Amazon Prime membership and thereby free 2-day shipping for most things I want to buy. I've been buying diapers (30% off when you choose "Subscribe and Save" which you can easily cancel at any time), gifts, books, a new hair dryer (mine was about 20 years old and finally died last week), and I even bought a big box of toilet paper online! This is great for those purchases that make you take extra trips to the grocery store, which I really don't have the ability to do right now. Only problem is that it becomes a little too easy to shop...just make one click and it's done!

~~7~~
Baby Update:

Mr. Thomas is really growing up! People who haven't seen him in a few weeks marvel at how quickly he is growing. He's losing a lot of his hair, so it will be interesting to see what color it comes in; my guess is light brown. He's now big enough to put in the exersaucer (with a little padding around him), and he loves being upright and watching all his siblings.

He's getting a lot more control of his hands and is starting to suck his left thumb. I can't decide if I should just let him, put the binky in more, or just try to keep him from sucking anything. MC was a thumb-sucker and had a fairly easy transition giving it up at age 5, Ellie is still totally addicted to sucking her first 2 fingers, and SJ never took to anything.

Many of the 3-6month clothes are too small for our big Tommy already and I think he'll be growing out of the infant carseat pretty soon. He loves to coo and talk to everyone, and is such a smiley little guy! I've been carrying him more in the Beco carrier recently; it's working out well.

SJ sure loves his little brother! And how mama loves her little boys! We sat together on the couch tonight (after reading some girly books with the sisters and sending them to bed) and read Steven's favorite train board book and it was just so sweet how Steven kept trying to get Thomas to look at the book. They will be quite a pair!


Hope you all have a great weekend!
See more quick takes at Conversion Diary.