I have really missed blogging so much, and have intended to start back several times here lately, but I stay so busy with these three little ones and running a household that I just....haven't. So here I am.
Sooo much has changed since my last post
wayyyy back in March! To begin with, we have a new family member! Mary Ellen
Azar was born on September 23, 2009 at 1:16 PM, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz, and no, I did not have a c-section. I did however, have as many drugs as they would allow me to have pumped into my body, which ended up being a really good thing, as it took two doctors to manually turn her before she could be delivered. Yeah. THINK about that. I felt like a car getting my spark plugs checked. But she is very healthy, and so sweet, and has a
HEADFULL of dark hair. SERIOUSLY..... a HEAD-FULL. And it sticks out at all crazy angles. So I have been cloth diapering,
mei-
taing and feeding this little girl her
Alimentum formula and a rice cereal (to help with the reflux) on top of what I was already doing everyday!!!! She has been such a blessing, and I am finding out exactly how different little girls are from little boys. She takes a nap with me in the afternoon (which is about to have to cease, due to her now weighing 14 pounds.... my chest cant handle it) and is in bed by 7 every night, only taking one bottle at 10:00 PM before waking in the morning at 6:30 AM. I want one more little one but Zack says he is done having kids, so in my mind, we will re-evaluate the situation in a year or so :)
Ben and Zack (now 2 and 3, respectively) are learning new things at a frightening pace, and I am able to have "real conversations" with little Zack now. He actually asks me how my day has been when I pick him up from Mother's Morning out, and makes hilarious observations on everything... Ben is not too far behind him. Zack and Ben both know their letters, numbers through 10 and most colors/ shapes.... thanks PBS! Ben thinks he is as old as Zack so when he physically can't do something that his big brother is doing (i.e. using scissors at art time) he becomes infuriated. They are in love with Dora, Diego, Max and Ruby, and Mickey Mouse. Oh yes, and the Baby Jesus movie..... which is what they call the Nativity cartoon movie I have loaded into the van's DVD player. Ben will say "More Jesus, please!". Cracks me up.
We let the kids help decorate the Christmas Tree and I let Zack pick out all of the "
indestructible" ornaments at Michaels. The tree lacks the flair of my Radko and Lenox ornaments, but they love it and one day I will miss our foam and plastic ornaments. And watching them decorate it was so much fun! I also got them a Little People (Fisher Price) Nativity Set that they can play with.... they have been learning so much about the birth of Jesus this year!
I have found that in being a SAHM, I constantly have to challenge myself to learn and do new things. This keeps me interesting as a person (at least I feel like it does!) and keeps me interesting to myself. When I get bored with myself as a person, I get blue, and when I get blue, everyone suffers, so the busier I am, the better! ! So far I have made a few scarves and attempted a hat, and I'm liking what I see! Reading (when I have a spare minute... hahah) is always high on my list, and lately I have enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series and books on Marian apparitions. Balancing religious stuff with pleasure stuff. Keeps me spiritually fed and also entertained! In saying this, I have started Knitting (thanks to my friend, Jocelyn) and am really enjoying it. I also completed Week One of my training to run a 5K today. Yes, it is a very cold time of year to start this, but my weight loss post-Mary Ellen has plateaued and I needed to start something new exercise-wise. So I am attempting to learn to run..... hopefully at the end of this training program (it's nine weeks long) I will be able to run 3 miles in 30 minutes (at least that's my goal). So now I can add Runner and Knitter to my list.
As always, I continue to coupon and save us as much money as possible.... It's more than a hobby .... it's like a way of life for me! Our grocery bill budget is under $200 per month now, which I feels awesome about! In cutting corners and stockpiling food when it is on sale, we usually spend between 30 and 50 a week at the grocery store. Loving it! Also, thanks to Dave Ramsey's plan, Zack and I are now debt-free, minus our House, a little bit on my car, and a little bit on his student loans. No credit card debt, and we don't use them anymore at all! It is a very liberating feeling knowing that we don't owe anyone more than we are bringing in (save the aforementioned) and that we are teaching our kids the value of a dollar in showing them that not everything has to be new, and that they can share things (not bad skills for life either). I have found that I am actually happier with less STUFF (still trying to get rid of stuff at my house that seems to be cluttering) and because I'm no longer preoccupied with getting more stuff, my thoughts are soul are focused on other things that mean much, much more.
I have also reconnected with my long-lost best friend, Amber. We are on the phone and Facebook all of the time, and still are just alike in so many ways, and yes, we still even share the same birthday. Our hubbies and kids have now all become inseparable as well, so we all hang out together at least once a week. Good times for the soul, I tell you.... life is no fun without a best friend...at least my Best Friend, anyways.
We are seriously looking into homeschooling the kids, so I have been going to Holy Spirit's
Home school meeting group and have met some incredible people who are incredibly helpful!! If you're interested in hearing why we are looking so heavily into Homeschooling, I will go into that in another post when I have some time.
