Made it through another day!

The boys playing Batman and Robin remind me how much fun life can be if we imagine it so.
We knew this month would be a bit crazy because of Eric's on-call schedule. There were 3 out of the 4 doctors who were taking off time this month and so Eric picked up a lot more shifts. Eric keeps reminding me how good this is as we are going into the expensive holiday season...and he is right as we will be traveling not only to Salt Spring Island, but also down south to see my family in Washington and Oregon over the holidays. Life can still be challenging even with that in mind.
Most of the days have rolled by without too many bumps (but always a few bruises with my boys). I find that when I have successfully put all of the kiddies to bed that there is an almost audible sigh of relief given from my body, and the thought enters, "You did it!" And now I can start on the dishes, laundry, cleaning....oh yeah and my time, when is that? This all needs to occur before 10pm ideally, but that rarely happens. I have been so worn out by the end of the day that I have not had even and ounce of energy to exercise. This has been really frustrating for me as up until November I was doing great.
When Eric is on-call he stays overnight in Raymond as he needs to be close to the hospital and we live too far away (35-40min). Then he has his normal shift the next day and hopefully we see him that night. He was home on Tuesday night and he was helping out with the dinner and Olivia was taking a short nap so I ran upstairs and got the clothes folded AND put away (this is always the hard part for me; large stacks of clean clothes lining our bedroom wall is not an uncommon sight) and then headed downstairs in time to help set the table before quickly eating, feeding Olivia and heading to the church for Activity Days. I was so happy when I entered the kitchen and saw Eric there at the stove, and in my joy exclaimed, "This is how it is supposed to be." Eric suspected the birth of my new joy came from his presence but asked, "You mean two people being home to help out?" Yes!!! The chaos and duties of an evening can be tackled so much more easily with TWO.
Near the end of September I found a young adult, Sarah, who was willing to come help clean 3 times a month. The past two months her help has been invaluable. Her presence has been such a motivation and I have found myself working along side her as much as I can. We've been able to have a lot of good conversations and the kids think she is great. Unfortunately for me she came for the last time this week. Funds are low and she is heading back to Ontario to work and save to either return to school or go on a mission. I am so grateful for her help. I try so hard to stay on top of things but after Olivia's arrival I could just feel myself falling behind so this was such a great boost.
Funny words from today came from Justin: "Why do you keep having babies?" I responded that it was in part so that he would have brothers and sisters. His reply," But what if the house gets too full? I don't want like 60 brothers and sisters" I reassured him we would stop before then :)
Funny actions from Austin: I was laying down with him trying to get him to take a nap, he has been a bit resistant since he moved from the crib and laying with him for a few minutes often helps. I also find if I close my eyes he usually follows suit. So today, after a minute of my eyes being closed, I opened one eye to survey the scene... to my surprise Austin is smiling this HUGE cheesy smile and has two thumbs up and is nodding his head at me, as if to say, "Good job sleeping mom." I couldn't help but smile and laugh with this cute little guy. Deciding a nap was not going to happen and the battle of wills was over I headed downstairs with a very happy and victorious Austin.
I have been spending quite a bit of time reading the conference talks from the Ensign and feel such gratitude for modern day revelation. I have been reminded and moved to better thoughts and actions and feel the Lord helping support me. Our happiness really lies in our own hands. I love my family and my life.

Some pictures of the kids

Justin has become so attentive to Olivia's needs and can get some of the biggest smiles from her

People say that these two look quite a bit a like, what do you think?
Madeleine before church in a pretty red dress. She looks beautiful in anything I think.

Prayer Time

We have instituted singing a song before prayer each night and it usually does not stop with one. Justin's request is always the same, "Do as I'm Doing". As most of you know this is an active get-up-and-move kind of song, not the kind I am wanting to do before bed. Tonight, after we sang our song, Justin began the prayer but quickly stopped and looked at me with a smile and said, "I was just about to sing the prayer," giggled and started again.
Our children's prayers have been evolving (ok, so deteriorating might be more appropriate in my mind), but changing none the less. Much of a prayer addresses the "goings-on" at that moment. Let me give you an example of tonight's, Justin said, "...and please help Austin to bow his head and keep his hands to himself" Often you hear, "Please help (insert name(s)) to sit still, close their eyes and be more reverent" I find that the prayer has barely begun when this starts and then instead of the usual "grateful for" parts the prayer ends. So you can see why this kind of change is not exactly what I had hoped for in regards to their prayers. Hopefully their personal prayers are a bit more meaningful.
Each Sunday we do what we call "Scripture Challenge." Eric, or I, will read some verses from the scriptures and then quiz the kids. Well I know that doesn't sound too exciting so let me finish painting the picture. While we are on the couch the kids are sitting across from us (usually on stools), cups in hand, and eyeing the marshmallows or other goody that is sitting on our laps. After the verses are read the kids each get several turns to answer the questions correctly. If they do get one correct we toss a treat and they try to catch it in their cup. This has become such a fun tradition and it is amazing how attentive the kids can become when treats are on the line.

Big Bed time

Before Olivia was born we tried moving Austin into the trundle bed that Eric had made for him. No luck. He thought it was so great to have play time in each of their beds. One night I thought for sure after two hours of in and out of his bed and his siblings that he would be asleep. I called Eric to come upstairs with me and look at what I assumed would be our little guy asleep. Well, we found him in A bed, but it was not his own, and he was not asleep. He was in Madeleine's bed (keep in mind this is at 10pm) rearranging her stuffed animals. A few more tries and we decided to hold off until after Olivia arrived.
We have four bedrooms but one is down two flights of stairs in the basement and the kids are not at all willing to be in that room....and I understand at their age. Nor do I like the thought of what would happen if they were to get sick and try to make it to our room leaving bits and pieces of their sickness along the way. It is nice to have us all on the same level; but, that means that Madeleine, Justin and Austin must all share a room as Olivia needs her own.
Last Monday I asked Austin if he wanted to nap in his "big bed" and he said yes. I didn't say anything about staying in the bed or warning him not to get out. I thought I would just see what would happen. Well, three hours later I had to wake him up and he was so proud of himself sleeping in his new big bed. I thought, "This is it. He is old enough and we need to just do it." Having Olivia in our room in the beginning was nice for all of the frequent night feedings, but now that she is sleeping through the night there have been more drawbacks to having her there as I am not able to put laundry away, read at night, or talk to Eric in anything but hushed tones etc. So, that night he slept in his own bed. No getting out or bothering Justin and Madeleine. Yeah!
Well, I wish I could say, "And that was that, they are just all sleeping perfectly together." With the switch to the new bed Austin has begun to wake up two hours earlier (now 6am instead of 8am) and of course it is no fun to be up without company, so yes, he wakes both Madeleine and Justin up. I wasn't too concerned as I was still so impressed that this minor inconvienence was all I was dealing with...until two nights ago. Austin was determined to stay up and stay up he did...in and out of Madeleine's bed until finally I had to lay down the law (this means a severe tone and veiled threats). Then at 3am this morning I hear a thud, bounce, rattle rattle and I am thinking who is downstairs and what is going on? (Eric is gone for 3 days) I head downstairs to find Madeleine holding a water bottle and Austin a green cup filling them with water. Ok, so not what I expected but I was ok with it as long as they went right back up to bed. That was not to happen. For the next 45 minutes I was in and out of bed trying to convince Austin to stay in his bed and leave Madeleine alone. Finally I had him come into my bed, which I am not accustomed to, and finally at 5am he went to sleep.
The story doesn't end here. I was quite tired this morning but knew I had to get going. So I sent Austin downstairs and jumped in the shower. I had 20min. before Sarah would be here to help clean. As I exited the shower I heard a crash and Madeleine telling Austin not to move. I rushed downstairs towel and all to find Austin on the counter with broken glass at his feet, and everywhere else. You know how that is with glass, it is hard to feel like you've ever gotten it all. This must have been quite the sight. We made it through without anyone stepping on any and Sarah ended up being 15 min. late which gave me time to clean everything and get dressed. I will be going to bed early tonight because who really knows what the night will bring.