A Titus 2:4-5 wannabe..: Family update :).

For some reason I've been busy lately ;),
and a month has slipped by since I last posted on here.

I thought I should go ahead and give an update on our family. My husband Phillip and I are doing well, though we are well an thoroughly worn out trying to keep up with two houses (still praying for our previous home to sell), and recovery from pregnancy/birth for me, which means more of the household work/needs fall to Phillip (poor guy is doing a LOT, and it's truly quite a blessing how much he's willing to help out around the home and with the kids). Besides still working full-time at his regular office job as well.

It's quite impressive the range of events that can happen at night around here.. anything from as mediocre as a newborn needing to eat/diaper changes.. to a 2 yr old still waking up several times a week at night.. to thunderstorms waking up all 3 older boys.. or even fireworks waking the kids up (fun, some of these neighbors started their party early this yr).. or even losing power in the wee hrs of the morning (which means the kids white noise machines shut off). Oh and I almost forgot the whole house maintenance issues such as spending most of the night before Father's day trying to stop a water problem UNDER the house (the one we just moved into), which we have temporarily fixed but will need further attention (and $$$$) soon.

So to say we are tired, exhausted, or even sleep deprived on a regular basis.. is kind of just stating the obvious. To say we are rethinking and changing our priorities is also likely stating the obvious, things don't get done as speedily, or as thoroughly as they might normally but most of them 'eventually' get done around here, and if not then they must really not bug us much lol.

I (Rae) am doing gradually better the further I get out from being pregnant. It does feel like it's taking a while to get back to regular life after this baby, he just turned 5 weeks old today, and I'm still only doing 'some' of my regular house hold duties. Thankfully I did have a wonderfully healthy/relatively easy birth, but the pregnancy was difficult and I think that's what I've been healing from this time. That and the reality of 4 small children in my care at once, busy doesn't even begin to describe me these days. My health issues are still here, and still rearing their ugly heads though. My joints (ehlers danlos syndrome) are still very loose, and easily slip out/cause pain from normal activities. At 6 weeks I'll be able to gentle start exercises to rebuild my muscles and hopefully reduce the dislocations and pain again.
I'm so very grateful and blessed to be able to 'wear' my babies in wraps as it only takes a short while holding in arms for my shoulders to slip out or wrists or.. any number of joints to start hurting me. The wraps do a excellent job at holding the baby's weight to the core of my body, and greatly reduce the wear and tear on my joints (Praise God!). My digestion is still very poor, though I am working with my doctor on this, he (and I) believe it may be related to my loose connective tissue disorder (ehlers danlos syndrome), but neither of us have come up with a solution just a probable cause at this point. I'm still unable to eat 25 or so 'regular' foods and struggling to keep enough foods in my diet to sustain the baby and I. But all I know to do is just take it one meal/snack at a time, and keep going. My low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) has been touchy since the baby came too, probably due to the lack of sleep/added stress I'm under but it does a good job of reminding me to eat every 2hrs .. as getting ill is not optional when you have all these little ones depending on you.

The older kids are all doing well considering the new baby in the family. We've seen various responses to having a new baby in the family, some are more clingy, some are more distant, some are louder (to draw attention to themselves) etc. All of them have struggled in one way or another with the changes our family is going through, but none (thus far) have been upset with the baby, they all love him and 'try' to be gentle (but being boys.. that is definitely a work in process to learn what gentle is!). Samuel being 2 and formerly extremely attached to Mama.. has surprised us by transferring his attachment to Daddy now.. but not just mildly attached, rather he's obsessively a Daddy's boy now, jealous if Daddy holds baby Peter, or hugs Mama etc. Even rejects Mama's affection or help at times, saying 'I want Daddy' .. sigh .. hopefully he'll settle in to a new spot in the family soon (since he's been 'promoted' from baby to big boy by all this). But one thing is for sure, Samuel LOVES being a 'big brother' and as he says nearly every night before bed 'I luv you Peter' while giving Peter a gentle hug :).

And the baby..
Is affectionately referred to as 'Peaceful Peter' because thus far he's been far more peaceful then any of our others as newborns. With a gentler personality then some of our babies, and thus far NO acid reflux it's been very nice to actually 'enjoy' the newborn period. He still eats a lot and needs a lot of diapers, but so far we haven't had several 'hours' a day of crying like some of them would do. I think in reality he's 'normal' .. as in he can be fussy when hungry, might get angry during a diaper change, and if he gets over tired you'll hear about it. But once his needs are met (even if that just means holding him/wearing him) he's okay :)! Peter has smiled and laughed in his sleep from birth, and he started socially smiling at 2-3 weeks old! Which reminds me Peter is now 5 weeks old and today at his checkup he was 9lbs 11oz, 22 3/4" long, with a 15" head :)! He's long and somewhat thin, mostly his arms and legs are still thin, but body and head/neck are definitely showing some weight put on.

So this post is probably useless without pictures huh? Here's a image from Peter's 'Pro' Newborn Portraits taken at 1 week of age (click on the images to see them bigger):