Update on Life & Photo Dump

I have never been in as busy season of life as I am now.  And I know it is passing right by, and blogging seems to capture pieces of it and help slow it down, and without even an opportunity to blog, I am afraid I am "losing" these days.

Everything is so great right now.  I love working at the school where 3 of the 4 kiddos attend!  They come to work with me and leave with me and stop and see me several times throughout the days.  Kylie is playing Junior High Softball this year, playing mostly 2nd base and pitching.  She looks so great in Trojan gear!  Kaden will be playing basketball shortly, and Farrah is finally comfortable and happy in preschool after 2-3 weeks of a tough adjustment.

Augusta is still at her current daycare and outgrowing the infant room by wanting to be with the bigger kids so badly.  She wants to be so big, which is so sweet at this phase because she is still so little and can't speak much yet.  She doesn't say many words yet, but I know she knows a lot!  She says baby, mama, daddy, yucky, stinky (while scrunching up and holding her nose - so adorable), puppy, and sort of says more by screaming a little sound.  I believe that is about all she says.  She watches and learns and does everything Farrah does. She moves the kitchen stool where she wants to see and climbs up looking onto the counter tops.  She carries our new kitten, Cookie Dough, around. She is so, so sweet.

Farrah is a ball of talkative energy that never, ever slows down to rest.  Her mind is ever-working and so is her mouth.  We are working on being happy with something and not always needing or asking for something more.  I am praying for patience with her and to give her the attention her little heart needs right now.  She was listing all of the things she can do because she’s big and some of them include: sleeping in her own bed, have a phone (my old one), walk to the lake with Willa, do a flip, hold the cats, cut with a real knife, and tie her shoes!  We have a full family of six, and when everyone is home, there is so much hustling and bustling and talking and commotion.  It's beautiful and we will miss these days right now.

I want to look toward the future because when car loans and children costs reduce, we will have more money and more opportunities for ourselves, and Augusta and Farrah will be older and more independent, allowing for a little more freedom, but at the same time, in less than a short three years, Kaden will be graduated and imagining days without him at home are heartbreaking and surreal.   Two short years after that, Kylie will also be graduated.  I just cannot let myself think about this too hard.

You think that your babies and little children grow so quickly, because they do, but the teenage years go even faster!

I don't have any downtime.  I spend my days taking care of everyone, keeping the house picked up and laundry caught up, planning and cooking suppers, and getting everyone where they need to be.  We have late nights and ball games and we spend as much time together as we can.  Last night we all jump roped and Keane measured Kaden and Kylie's calf muscles, Kylie and I did squats.  We spend time when all of the kids play airplane or everyone or arm wrestles, spending time at the swings and playground at home, fishing or taking boat rides, picking vegetables or playing basketball.  Bedtime gets here late and mornings come too soon.

Keane and I just finally finished watching Orange is the New Black, Kaden and Kylie are hooked on Instagram and TikTok, Farrah enjoys watching Grace's World, Peppa Pig, or Ben & Holly on YouTube or playing make-up games on our phones, and Augusta loves to play with anyone's phone she lays eyes on, climbing anywhere and everywhere, or playing with baby dolls.  She picks them up and pats their back and loves to carry them around in the play cars eat.

Augusta hates when I fix her hair (I'm sure it hurts with all the hair she has and a sensitive baby scalp) but I always have to put some of it up and out of her face.  Farrah always tells me how she wants her hair and she's very specific; it's usually in two French braids, two piggy tails (straight, not in buns), down and curly, straightened, or sometimes in a pony tail.  She is forever asking me if her hair is "crazy" or "straight" or "curly" and I have to take a picture to show her.

Keane took me on a day trip to Grafton, Illinois, for my birthday and it was amazing.  I didn't know where we were going until we arrived at the Ferry!!!  We put his truck on the ferry and rode it across the Illinois River to Grafton where they had Street Art Show and shops that we loved.  We then got a couple drinks and discovered an amazing crowd at some bars.  We ended our evening eating delicious seafood and riding the ferry back to Missouri on it's last trip of the evening.  He wasn't interested in the zip lining but we would have done the new Sky Lift if it was open to the public already.  We want to take the kids there sometime and check out the water park and other activities.

So, after I started writing this, I unfortunately lost my iPhone X in our lake when I nearly backed our four wheeler in the lake, so I lost a lot of pictures!!!  I had to remind myself how lucky I am for all the photos I do have even if several months worth have been erased. I saved some from my Instagram account and also from Kylie’s phone!

Also, since I started writing this, the whole country has gone into a quarantine due to the COVID-19 virus. March 19 ended up being the last day of school this school year.  I have continued working five days a week preparing and serving meals for the students in your school district. We have recently switched to working 2 days a week making 4 meals each time.

I have realized through this quarantine how little my family depends on social interactions and non-essential type business. Our schedule and lives haven’t changed much and that’s a happy realization for me.

Broken Humorous

I always hold Augusta sideways in my arms and walk around her bedroom while she sucks her thumb, listening to her lullaby lamb and sometimes singing her a song of my choice that lately she has been singing along while looking at me with her wide and full-of-life eyes.

Today, I asked Kylie to bring the rocking chair into the bedroom for nap after I couldn’t get her to sleep and as I sat down into it, a lot of emotions came with it. The comfort of motherhood and the familiar feeling of fear and overwhelming desire to be perfect mixed with the raw knowledge that I’m not. Yet, I cannot express the multitude of love I have and I hope my kids know and feel it every single day, even when I tap out after playing with Farrah after about 20 minutes every single time. Or when I get frustrated when Augusta wants to roll around and “night night” on the pillow yet giggles and wiggles some more.

New Year’s Eve was here and we slept in until 9:00 or so. I got Augusta’s diaper changed and hair fixed and she was playing with me and Farrah on my bed. I then started to put some make up on so we could go to her chiropractor appointment for ear infections and grab a few things at the store before making a double batch of lasagna, one to take to Donn & Karen who were going to watch both little girls while Keane and I went to dinner with a group of friends in Fulton.

It was about 10:00 and I heard a thump, nothing too loud or alarming, but when I noticed that Augusta had fallen and hadn’t gotten up yet, I dashed over to her. She was laying on her belly with her head raised not making a sound. When I picked her up, her right shoulder was slumped. I was afraid she had hurt her shoulder so I laid her down trying to examine her because by this time she was crying and her crying wasn’t letting up. Her mouth was bleeding some and she was raising her right arm sideways and then dropping it, eventually reaching to her elbow saying, “owie.” I called Keane and asked if he could come home from the farm and he was home within minutes. With the way she was holding her arm, it didn’t appear to be nursemaid’s elbow and her elbow was beginning to swell. We decided to take her to urgent care so Kylie held her in the back seat while I drove.

We got xrays and they determined there was a fracture in her humorous bone, they temporarily splinter her arm, and referred us to Women’s & Children’s to be casted or to determine if surgery was needed. Kylie had to go back to her mom’s for New Year’s Eve so we met her at Walmart where we also met my mom who was going to ride along with me.

We were sent to the ER and were there for three hours total and in the end, they decided they weren’t sure the extent of the break with the swelling and wanted us to be seen in the clinic two days later. They splinted her arm and gave her a sling and sent us on our way.

Two days later, at the Orthopedic Institute, we got more xrays and the doctor decided no surgery was necessary. The bottom portion of her humorous bone was a little slanted but with a 90 degree bend, he felt it would heal fine in a 3-week cast.

Lately, the only color Augusta can say is purple and she thinks everything is purple, so, of course, we chose to get her a purple cast. She did so amazing during the whole process and it hasn’t slowed her down. She gets frustrated sometimes only having one arm to use but I’ve been catering to her needs much more than usual, and that in itself is a blessing. I’ve needed to focus on my baby girl more. She’s usually so independent but it’s been really great to have so much focus and attention on her. She deserves that. She is so amazing and so brave. She’s stronger than I could ever expect her to be. I am so proud of her and I hope she knows that.

She’s been extremely moody occasionally and hasn’t been sleeping well, which can only be expected.  I’ve been having trouble getting her easily into the crib so today we did a room rearrange and I also switched out her crib for Farrah’s old toddler bed!  We will see how it goes!