We're no longer house hunting which has been wonderful. We still enjoy looking at pictures online and will go to open houses if any interest us, but no more driving 3 kids and a tired mommy all over the county in the evening. :) We are also no longer wasting our poor realtor's time. We might start looking in January but for now, plan to just enjoy the holidays and our family- especially the baby days with Esther. She's growing too fast!

We ordered our first home-school curriculum last night! I'm very excited that we finally did it and will be getting it probably sometime next week. I think we'd usually get it sooner but with Thanksgiving i'm sure it won't come by weeks end. We went with a Sonlight program which is pretty expensive but since it's literature based it's almost all books that will be part of our library. I'll also be able to use it with both girls after Tyler is done and can take more than one year to go through it. That makes it a great value assuming we love it as much as I think we will. Even if we hate it, we end up with books we can read to the kids and the kids can read rather than a bunch of software or textbooks and workbooks we'll never use. I doubt we'll do much with it before the new year but I'm excited to have something all done for me where all i have to do is follow the instructor guide. I love making up my own things, but it can be tedious and i lose motivation at times.

Saturday Lori got to come to meet Esther! It was so nice that she was able and had time to drive out here to see us. We miss you Lori! She brought Christmas gifts for the kdis and so they are thrilled to have alerady started Christmas! I did not do a very good job of making a big deal out of Thanksgiving this year so in their minds we are straight into Christams. Since we're having Christams with my side of the family on Friday, it's hard to make the distinction so i've just let it go this year. We do talk a lot about being thankful but we didn't get into the pilgrims at all this year. :( Maybe tomorrow if i'm super motivated. :)

Esther is still doing well! She is one month today! I can't believe how the time has gone. She is much improved in her eating and she's on a good routine throughout the day. If I could get myself up regularly to feed her at the same time each morning it would be even better. :) The other two kids love her to bits and always want to look at her and kiss her. They are great about playing with each other or by themselves when I have housework to do or need to nurse the baby. I'm thankful to have the extra space of the basement for them to play in for the days we just can't make it outside to run around.

This week we're looking forward to THanksgiving and Christmas with family and I think Gary even gets Monday off so we might get a relaxing, restful family weekend- after we decorate for Christmas of course! We're all fighting illness and colds but so far none of us have gotten sick (knock on wood). I'm very thankful for antibacterial gel, vitamins and lysol in addition to sweatshirts and slippers!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Grace playing outside.

Tyler playing in the back yard.

Clearly I need to blog something short every day or couple days. Our weeks are getting very confusing. So last week was hospital week, then closing on Friday, leaves and fever on Saturday, no church and party on Sunday and thus begins another week!

Sunday 11/8: Due to Grace's fever we stayed home from church. Gary left to go golfing with my dad shortly before naps. Tyler had a meltdown because he wanted to go, he was afraid of starting Kindergarten because he can't write all his letters, and he was crying that his party was on the wrong day because he's still four. I begged him to PLEASE nap so he'd feel better and not so crabby for his birthday. My mom arrived about 2:30 and we got to visit while the kids napped and finished getting the house cleaned up. We left a little after 4 to go see a house that was open in Alliance. We've looked at it several times and kept feeling like it was meant to be it'd still be up for sale. Since my parents were in town and it was open we headed over only to find out that it was NOT open! Someone called the realtor for the home though because he came and let us see it... I liked it more, Gary liked it less. Turns out there was another offer going in Monday so if we wanted it we had to "act fast". Upon discussion we decided to let this one go as it was not in the location we wanted. We'd really like to be closer to the school we're sending Tyler to. We got back to the house and ordered food from Grinders and we let Tyler open his presents while we waited on the food. Then while everyone ate, I fed Esther, then we did cake and ice cream and visited a little and the grandparents headed for home. Tyler got snow pants, the train Proteus, Legos, some Cars vehicles, a Cars launcher, and a fish! It's good to turn 5!!

Monday I'm sure we did something but I can't remember what.

Tuesday we went to see another house that is in the perfect location but small. We liked it enough to consider making an offer so we made plans to see it again Wednesday with Gary's dad to look at the details. Wednesday's showing wasn't at all what we expected. We saw the house and the owners where there and it was just overall a very strange experience... very strange...

Wednesday night was also a nightmare as far as sleeping goes. Esther doesn't have the jaundice anymore so she's eating better and not sleeping as much. This also means it's harder to get her to go to sleep, especially on her own. Somehow we've gotten ourselves in a situation where she needs to be in her seat, held, and have a pacifier to fall asleep. this is NOT GOOD!! She slept very little all day Wednesday, and very little all night. Now it's Thursday and she cried through one nap. We're on our second nap and she's quiet but keeps making noises up there. Thankfully she's at least in her own bed and resting. I'm pretty sure she's sleeping and the noises are just her transitioning through sleep cycles but i'm afraid to go check! Every time I check on her something wakes her up (most likely increased downstairs noise) and she sees me and screams.

So even though this house seems wonderful in so many ways, it's still small, and probably not the best time to be moving or making these kinds of decisions. We're just a little to strung out and sleep deprived! We're not sure yet, but I don't think we'll be making an offer. At least not today.

Last but certainly not least:

Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma Sandra!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!

Tomorrow, November 9, Tyler will turn 5 years old! I can't believe it! He seems so grown up to me and yet I know he's still a very little boy. :) Tonight we are having the grandparents over for a special birthday dinner and we hope to go bowling as a family sometime this week. We had plans to go to Toys R Us to have him choose a gift yesterday but Grace woke up from her nap with a pretty high fever so home we stayed. :( That means of course that here I am at home iwth the three kids while Gary's off to church. He was back on worship team today after about a month off and his dad is preaching! I'm so dissapointed to miss it. Grace is acting fine but I know that could change at a moment's notice and I know we are likely to all be contageous at this point.

Yesterday (Saturday) we went to the Bush's and the kids got to play in the leaves and help get them to the road for leaf pickup this week. Tyler loved it and Grace wanted to be inside reading books and keeping an eye on her baby sister. I was so impressed to see Tyler raking leaves into a pile, then onto a tarp, then dragging the tarp to the road and dumping the leaves in the pile all by himself. Of course we stayed close to him but Pops showed him how to do everything and he did it all by himself! They also got to take a couple wagon rides which is always a favorite activity.

This past week was pretty stressful but also wonderful. Gary went back to work of course and so it was just the kids and I. Esther did not do well nursing at the beginning of the week which was extremely frustrating. I wanted to give up several times, especially at night when she would cry every 5 minutes for hours and seem hungry so often, and not eat. I kept at it and started giving her little bits in bottles to get her going. I think it calmed her somehow. She just seemed constantly exhausted, or overstimulated. Having two older siblings, she probably is often overstimulated! We're working on balancing keeping hte kids quiet and making Esther get used to them. :)

Wednesday we had a weight check and I was able to have Steph watch the kids for me while I took Esther. She was up to 6lbs 14 oz (from 6lb 8oz the week before) which was good... but the nurse felt she was too yellow so she sent our doctor in to see Esther. She was concerned and felt she was more yellow than the week before and sent us over to the hospital for bloodwork. Gary met me there and we had it done and then I went to get the kids and go home. We got home very late that day so naps where late which threw off our whole day.

Thursday we had to go again and I had to take the kids by myself. It would turn out to be a horrible day in many respects. I managed to get Esther fed, then get myself and the kids up and dressed and fed, then fed Esther again and left. We got to Alliance and the power was out in teh whole town! You don't realize how many lights there are in town until you have to stop at every one of them and make SURE no one is running them and running into you! I turned left at the Bush's road because there was a policeman directing traffic. I figured it was safest to turn there. :) I figured out how to get to the hospital and was pretty proud of myself. By this point I was tired and sore and stressed and just ready to get this over with. I was on the phone when I got the kids out and we went in and waited. I forget how loud my kids talk until we are in a quiet place. *sigh* the power was half out in the hospital so there was not a lot of white noise around... no tv or music or hum of power and the lights were dimmed but my kids were yell-talking. Finally we went back and the kids did not sit still, did not be quiet, and did not keep their hands to themselves. I was beyond frustrated. Usually they are pretty well behaved in situations like this but my lack of parenting them since Esther joined us is quickly biting me in the you-know-what! Finally we were out of there (after saying goodbye to everyone in the lab) and I stopped to get my keys out. Couldn't find them. I had no jacket pockets, they were not in my jeans, and not in the diaper bag. I thought maybe since I had been on the phone while unloading that possibly I left them in the van so we trecked across the parking lot to see. Thankfully the van was unlocked so I could get the kids in, but the keys were not there. I looked under the van, under the seats, under the carseats, in every crevice of the seats, in the ignition, under the rugs, took Esther out of her seat and the cloth off of Grace's to look under them. Nothing. CHecked my pockets and Tyler's pockets and the diaper bag about 12 times and called Gary in a panic- yes, crying. Crying and yelling i'm sure. Poor Gary. He offered to come help me but what could he do? I even had Tyler look under the seats and the van and the vehicles to either side of us in case I missed it. I finally put things back in the van and decided we had to all treck back in to ask if someone had turned them in. I prayed this whole time that i'd find them and NOT have to go back in and that they'd turn up so we could just GO HOME. By this time it was well past time for me and the kids to eat lunch and Esther was needing fed too. I felt the need to check the diaper bag one last time and so I deliberately did, taking each item out and placing them on the seat. Nothing. THen I noticed the side pocket where bottles go and checked there- and there they were. I swear I'd checked them before but must not have. I was SO thankful!! We buckled the older two up and I headed to teh McDonalds drive through! Nothing like golden arches when you are stressed. Food is my drug of choice I guess. :) We went home and ate our lunch and got to bed and I fed Esther. Whew!

Friday was very similar as far as stress goes but nothing went disasterously wrong. This time I had to have us all to the hospital and home and Esther and the kids fed and me ready to go by 1:00. CLOSING DAY!! We were meeting our Realtor at the house at 2:30 so we HAD to leave by 1. It was close but I managed to get us packed and ready to go. YOu know i had to pack for any situation with Esther. :) I don't think I ate lunch, but I got everything else done. :) We walked through the empty house and it was unreal. It looked the same as when we'd moved out. It was strange to think someone else had lived there since we had. Thankfully they left it in great shape and clean so we headed over to the title company to close. I figured it would take awhile but was very wrong! 10 minutes and a few signatures later we were ouside with our debt cut by more than half. WOW! God is so good! The Stuaffers were free that evening and were gracious enough to let us come to their house and spend the evening wiht them, over an hour earlier than I'd said we'd see them! We had a wonderful visit and I was thrilled to get to see little Ali again! We had dinner there and just go to catch up and fellowship. It was nice to not have to nurse Esther in the back of the car in a parking lot too. :)

blog started 11/8, finished 11/12