Mom Wins

I am celebrating. This past week, I have had several highs in parenting. And I'm choosing to celebrate them, instead of focusing on the real lows this week.

Peaceful and Friendly Heroes have decided that they LOVE reading. And it was super exciting. They take books for car rides longer than three minutes. (My favorite.) And they both have series that they are trying to read. And I had to take away books for twenty minutes so we could finish cleaning. I've arrived! I have to take a book away to help my kids focus!!! I tried not to dance with glee while I took away a book. I offered them tons of sympathy as I took it away and reminded them that as soon as the vacuuming was done, they would get them back. But inside I was so happy they have found the joy of reading!! I have succeeded!

The other super thrilling thing is that we have been playing Harry Potter a lot. The boys have been having bubble wand fights. They fight and shout spells like, "Finite!" "Alohamora!" "Desendo!" And "Eat Slugs!" They have also tried "Avada Kadavra." But they pronounce it, "Avada  Cadabra" Which is also amazingly adorable. The Hopeful Hero has joined in--she asks everyone to call her Hermione. The Wise Hero becomes Ginny and she calls me Sister Weasley. I get to call my daughter Hermione, and I get called Sister Weasley, who is one of my heroes. Life is really sweet right now.

These two things have carried me through shots, fat lips, fighting and screaming. (Just to remind you that we have normal lives.) And I'm counting these as a win. And savoring them. So, you can just address me as Sister Weasley. Life is so much better when you are a Weasley. Even without the house elf.

A Tour of the New Digs

We are beginning to feel settled. We don't have pictures up on our walls, but I know where things are in my kitchen and I know where the light switches are. It took about a week, but I am beginning to feel like this is my home now. And it feels great!

This is our dining room. It's a huge room that the first thing you see when you walk in the door. And it's not quite as dark as it seems. We put the table there, because it's the brightest area in the house. I'm embracing the red in the house and I put out my apple table runner. I feel so grown up in a house with a table runner.

 My new favorite place--we have a toy room that is not the first thing you see when you walk in the house. It's across from the kitchen, so I can have the kids play and enjoy their time while I am cooking. And this room is much darker than the living room. (On another note, I'm still figuring out my camera. Go figure.)

 Close contender for a favorite spot. It's my kitchen, that is a lot bigger than the one in Indiana. I love it. I love it. I also know where I unpacked things so it's not impossible to cook.

 This is one of my favorite things that I brought with me. She didn't want her picture taken, The Hopeful Hero makes us laugh lots. And is always running.

 My bedroom is also a great place to be. There is one more bookshelf to put up, but we just found the hardware for it yesterday. I love my books. And I also love that the quilt I made for my bed three years ago looks like it was totally planned for this house. Unforeseen gifts.

 The other most coveted place in our house--the garage. We are thrilled to have the garage. The kids love to play in it, and play along the side of the house while I am cooking. And the washing machine--because everyone needs to know where the massive amounts of laundry that I do are done. In fact, the little heroes all think that my favorite chore to do is laundry. Because I do at least one load a day. Some days I can do up to four and still have more to do the next day.

 We are enjoying living in Southern California. We miss our friends in Indiana, but The Bug Hero is enjoying his new job and we are enjoying making new friends. And all of us love the new house.

October 18th

Friendly Hero: got his wish on Friday. Ever since his friends have lost teeth at school, Friendly Hero has wanted to do it. He lost his fourth tooth at school, and popped it out himself. He was super excited that he got to go to the nurses office with his tooth. (The bummer deal--it wasn't the normal nurse and so he didn't get the special bag he was coveting.) But he told me he loves it all the same.

Peaceful Hero: Is now six. I don't know how time flies so fast. All this past week, I've been trying to convince him that we will still celebrate his birthday but could he just be 5 again? He laughs and laughs and tells me no. And his laugh is the best. I love his belly laugh. He had a great birthday. He invited a neighbor family to come to have cake and ice cream with us. He loves playing with the kids and adored his vanilla cake with chocolate and vanilla frosting. I love his imagination--this past week he has everyone being vampires with him. Vampires suck blood, but mostly they climb up slides and then climb down the ladders. Doesn't seem very fun to me, but all the kids at the playground adore doing it, mostly because Peaceful Hero made it cool.

Cake and Ice Cream, blowing out candles.

Showing off a present

Opening the last present.

Hopeful Hero: Had a great week. She loves playing and laughing with friends. This past week we were talking about when we move and she had a really hard moment. She mentioned E, E, P and A, and was surprised that they all were not moving with us to live next door to us again. It was a sad moment that she learned that her four best friends were not going to be with us always.

Wise Hero: Cut another tooth on Friday. The same day that Ivan lost a tooth. She is up to nine. She also mastered standing by herself. As you can see, she is thrilled with her new ability. And the birthday balloon.

For Date night we fixed our dryer. It is really nice to have it working again. It was also very empowering to watch youtube movies and learn a new skill together.

All in pieces.

Screwing in the last screw.

Bug Hero graduates from Purdue in December. We are waiting to hear about what postdoc he is going to get. He is one of two still being considered for one postdoc and the other he is being considered for will make decisions next month. Math Hero is hanging in and having a great time being a mother and enjoying time with her kids.

Hello Again

Hi. We're still here. I do really well staying on top of blogs when I don't have an infant. The Wise Hero is nine months old on Sunday. And She is a dream. I love her cheeks that go on for miles and her rolls on her arms and legs that go on for days. She is perfect. And super chill.

The Hopeful Hero is a handful. She does all her exploring when I am occupied. So she can explore further. Case in point: Today I told her to leave her shoes and socks on at the playground and she noticed that my hands were full of the Friendly Hero. So she took them off. I noticed as the Friendly Hero started screaming, so while I was carrying him in, I told her, "I'm coming to get you next. You don't get to be outside without shoes and socks." She then ran to our friends and handed them her shoes and socks and told them, "Help me put these on? I not get in trouble." Super funny--but a handful.

The Peaceful Hero has a silly streak a mile wide. He loves to go to preschool and is excited that he is registered for Kindergarten. I'm in denial that I will have two of my children in school next year. He loves to tell jokes and make everyone laugh. He loves to play with everyone. He is a joy to be with.

The Friendly Hero is (ambiguous positive adjective). He likes school--as long as he tells you that he hates it. He really just hates spelling tests and timed tests. And I don't blame him. But he loves recess and gym and reading and math and science and social studies and dinosaurs. He loves to tell me the cool things he's learning. But He doesn't like school. In September we finally figured out his sleeping and so he is getting enough sleep and is super sweet. As long as you do what he wants--then he throws a fit for two minutes and then is super sweet again. I think about the Friendly Hero and he is wonderful and loving and stubborn. (Gee, I think he gets it from me.) He is earning the Lego Poe's X-Wing for reading 500 books in first grade and he read book 400 today. So he is amazing.

The Math Hero is doing well. I have so many days where I feel great about life and then I have lots of days where we are out of control. It's a fun ride and I've given up the illusion of control most days--who am I kidding? I love being in control. I just hide it better some days.

I look forward to posting at least once more before the Wise Hero turns one.

Changes

 The Friendly Hero started 1st grade back in August. He LOVES it! He is learning lots and growing and changing so fast.

 We had a weekend when my sister and her husband came. He showed the boys how to build really awesome tracks. And our train building skills have all improved.

 The Hopeful Hero, (The Minnie Hero) loves to dress up. She loves to put on the boys costumes. They are huge on her.

 In September Peaceful Hero started preschool. He LOVES it too. We get a run down every day of who he plays with and what part of Star Wars they play.

 The Haunted Hero has changed the most (and the least). She has put on 5 lbs from when she was born, and two inches. She is quite the chunk! We love it!

 She does smile, but we caught a cry here.

And she cheered up when she realized she was getting kisses and not laying-on-top-of-me hugs. Haunted Hero gets lots of those from Hopeful Hero. It's a dangerous thing, being the younger sibling.

My biggest change is that I can touch my toes again. I've been working on my flexibility. I have foot pain when I don't stretch. And so I've been working on it, and I'm so happy to say that I've gotten down to my toes faster than after any other pregnancy. Usually it takes almost a year, and here I am at just over 2 months and I can touch my toes! I'm so happy!

Four Kids

We took these, one hot, humid day in July. It was great fun. And The Hopeful Hero stole the pictures. It was lots of fun to see her do all sorts of things between the shutter. She is a doll!

What We Have Been Up To

Or in other words:
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD

We would like to introduce the newest Hero in our family!

Born July 17, 2015 at 6:15 pm

7 lbs 15 oz, and 19 inches long

We adore her chubby cheeks!

She is named after my great aunt. When we were first married, we lived really close to my aunt, and knew that she wanted visitors, but you had to be sneaky. We did our laundry at her house so she knew that there would always be someone coming to visit her...but also so she could feel like she was serving us--which she was! For two and a half years we had family night with her and loved her. Both of us fell in love our dear aunt. And we told her when we were expecting the Friendly Hero we would name him after her if he was a she. And her response was that she would come back and haunt whatever girl she is named after. (Which kind of sums up my aunt: funny, kind, and loving.) So until she gets another name on the blog, our daughter will be known as the Haunted Hero. 

The Haunted Hero spent most of the pregnancy flipping up and down. She would be in breach on week, and head down the next. And so we were waiting to see if she would stay head down. Which she never did, so she was induced in the 38th week. Before the induction, I had a version--where my doctor grabbed the baby's head and bottom on the outside of my stomach and pushed her around the right way. I had an epidural so I didn't feel any pushing or grabbing. The nurses were all surprised that I have had two successful versions. They all told me that my doctor has the best success rate, and also that having the epidural was another key factor. And I was very grateful for all the prayers that my family offered and that we were guided in all the decisions to make.

Laboring was good. We read to each other and the whole experience was very peaceful.

After nine hours of laboring in the hospital, I pushed for less than 15 minutes and out came our precious bundle of joy! With the most delicious chubby cheeks!

Our first picture

Meeting the siblings, all of them adore her:

Peaceful Hero

 Friendly Hero

 Hopeful Hero

For months, she would come to me and say: "Minny (how she says her name) Mommy's baby, Minny's hand now." I couldn't explain that it takes a lot longer than three seconds to get the baby out, and that it wasn't time. But she waited and finally, the baby is in her hands.

 Our first family picture. (Sorry about the back lighting. We will be getting better ones)

 We are at home. We love her!

She has a mild case of Jaundice, which is on par with our family. She is kicking it faster, so much faster than the Hopeful Hero. And that is a great thing! She brings love and happiness to our family. I love this newborn honeymoon stage!