Sheesh it has been way too long! I have got to get back on here regularly - if nothing more than for my own documentation and to keep our little family journal going. I often feel like keeping up with this blog is a bit redundant since I do so much scrapbooking and I tell our stories and document our lives through that... but I don't scrapbook chronologically and so I will pull photos out from any month depending on what I want to work on, which means I could be pulling out photos from a year ago or even further back than that and it is often hard to remember the details. I find myself coming back here a lot -- looking for some snippits of information related to the pictures and things that were going on during that time. And that is what I just did now... I am scrapbooking some pictures I took of Emily last October and I could remember that she was just learning to walk at that time and came looking here for some more details to fill in the gaps in my memory. So, it is a good reminder to me that the blog isn't redundant and that if anything it is a great way to get the words down now so that I will have them ready when I want to put them on a scrapbook page later. It is also a good reminder that I need to be backing up my blog entries and printing them out so that I have a hard copy in case something ever happened to the online versions.
Anyway, as usual I get rambling and maybe that is another good thing about this blog... it is a place for me to come and ramble and go on (and on) about all of the scattered busy thoughts that are always floating in my head. And since no one is likely reading this thing anymore since I haven't updated in so long, I won't have to worry about boring anyone to death!
I tend to get behind here and then I stress about being able to catch up and I wonder where to begin and I am sitting here thinking that I should treat this blog the same way I treat my scrapbooks... I don't scrapbook chronologically and I don't go back to my old pictures starting at day 1 and try to get caught up so why should I feel like I have to do that here. I need to let go of that feeling like all is lost if I don't stay "caught up" and allow myself to just pop in and out and record my current or past thoughts as they happen and as they come out.... whether that is every day or once a month.... I have to let myself be ok with it.
Anyway...... just thinking out loud... which is what a journal should be right? Now I will get back to something a bit more meaningful and relevant.
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Today --
Today was spent going to the doctor to get my thyroid medication worked out and trying to be patient with two little ones while we waited. I need to remember that they are really the ones trying to be patient with me while they are waiting for me. I mean it's not as if they chose to go there right? I also need to remember to see things from their perspective and not just mine. Maybe then I wouldn't have been impatient with them in the first place when they were touching all kinds of things they shouldn't have been touching and asking "when are we going to be done???" in more ways than one.
Today was spent taking pictures of Emily Jane in her yellow tutu and a shirt that I have been making for her for the last month! It is actually a plain white t-shirt that I have been embellishing... I didn't make the actual shirt. It was a labor of love and the sad thing is that she has had a growth spurt and it barely fits her now! What started as a fun and seemingly easy idea progressed into more and more ideas until I ended up with something that I was happy with but that took entirely too long to finish. Some of the things I did on the shirt are things I will be sharing on the blog and on some other blogs as well - a tutorial at studio calico and a guest design spot for another company. And all of it was a learning process and things that I had never done before so it was rewarding... I just wish I had bought the shirt in a bigger size so she could wear it longer. I guess I will just have to make another one and force myself to finish it faster! :)
Today was also spent taking some pictures of Nathan. Of course I had to get a few shots of him while we were out with my camera in a cute location. He had his rocket shirt on and he kept wanting me to just take a picture of the rocket and not his face. That little guy is growing up way too fast and he is getting so big. All I can think about lately is him going to Kindergarten next year and how I am really going to miss him. It will be a hard transition for me I am sure!
Today was spent going through pictures from last fall - editing and printing to use on my scrapbook pages for Studio Calico. The reveal for the October Kit is coming soon and my layouts are due tomorrow! I should not have procrastinated this long!
Today was spent at Activity Days - my church calling where we have activities for the 10 and 11 year old girls. We finished a service project while we chatted. Emily hung on me and cried for me to hold her for the first half hour and then finally decided that it was ok to go play for the 2nd half hour. She still struggles a lot in social situations that are outside of our little family and closest friends. She wants me to hold her the entire time and gets very anxious. This is something we are hoping to work on more in the next few months with her developmental specialist that comes once a week. It is getting hard to hold her every time we are out in a crowded place or situation like this.
Today was spent having my mom over for dinner. She helped Matthew with his homework and reading and chatted with me while we got the kids ready for bed. She helped me tuck Emily Jane into bed and Emily kept telling her "Nanny.... come here" as we were trying to leave her room. It is part of her new night time routine. I tuck her in and then as I am walking out of her room she says "Mom.... come here" and then she tells me something that I usually can't understand. I think she is just learning how to get me to stay a little longer before finally saying good night.
Today was spent helping Tyler pass off some of his requirements to earn his Bobcat for scouts. He was thrilled to pass off two of the things on the list and went to bed with his book so he could keep reading and practicing the rest of the things. Speaking of getting big... he is the one that has grown a ton this last year... not necessarily physically but just grown up. He turned 8 in July and was baptized (something that I need to blog about but not today). The thing I love the most is that he still asks me to lay by him at night... makes him seem not so grown up, even if it is just for those few minutes. I cherish it.
Looking forward to a busy tomorrow and being back here a lot more regularly from now on!
