The Going’s On Around Here

I’ve been a bit scarce as of late.

I’ve been running at full tilt just trying to stay and keep on top of things and while it’s kind of working – I’ve had little to no “me” time and so that means no blog posts.

Hiding

I’ve stolen a moment while the baby is sleeping and yet I feel guilty because if I don’t clean, then I’ll be further behind, but…..I’ve not stopped typing, have I?

In my mind, I can see that the end of this whole year of crap may be starting to settle down, coming to a close. I can see that a new chapter is coming soon and so we’ve been taking steps to prepare for that time.

I mentioned a post or two ago that I had gained more weight than I’m comfortable with and so the first thing that I did was to start to count calories AND to only eat whole foods while avoiding dairy, wheat and soy. It’s still going well and as of today I’ve lost 7 pounds. While it’s not difficult, per se, it’s not “fun” and yet, I’m not interested in being uncomfortable and so I carry on.

It’s amazing how much more energy I have when I eat only healthy foods. In some ways, it feels like a light has turned on in an other wise dark place and I can see more of what I need to do and for the most part, I’ve even scraped together the energy to accomplish what is required right now.

Eyelashes

Over the past 9 months things have been quite chaotic and with the amount of stress that we are under, there are some important (to me) things that have slipped or been lost in all the stress and chaos. Kids helping out around the house and being a part of the daily chores and just pitching in……all of those kinds of things have slipped over the past 9 months and while the kids have “had” to step up in some ways, in other ways, it’s all just been too much for them.

I know how strung out I’ve felt and so its been a combination of giving them some leniency and also just not having the energy to “make things happen”…..Regardless, I hoped that if I could just hold on….that maybe we might get to a position where I didn’t feel like I was drowning. We are getting close. In some ways, I feel like I use up all of my reserves by about 3pm and then I’m just existing until the eveing. With each day that passes, I gain another couple of minutes, but it always surprises me how things like grocery shopping or a huge melt down with one of the kids can deplete what energy I have.

This is in sharp contrast to last July right after Geli was diagnosed and Judah was born, when even just sitting on the couch watching my kids felt like too much to deal with.

Brothers

The week before Spring break we decided to switch things up. The kids were fighting and bickering and it was not cool. We took away all of the kids electronic entertainment and banned them from the computers and video games (we don’t have cable). On top of that, we told the kids that there was going to be an afternoon schedule and that there would be a “treat” if the schedule was kept and everything got done.

The schedule looked like this:

3-4pm Homework
4-5pm Play while 1 kid helps to make dinner (take turns helping)
5-5:45pm Dinner Time
5:45-6:15pm “EVERYONE” helps to clean up the kitchen
6:15-6:45pm Get Ready for Bed
6:45pm “Surprise”
8pm Bed Time / Lights out

Aunty Ruth’s Sweater

The kids mostly followed the schedule for the whole week prior to Spring Break and it was awesome. We had a Family Breakfast on Saturday morning and we talked with the kids about how they felt the week went and the response was very positive. The kids ALL mentioned how much nicer the week was because they mostly got everything done and the house was clean and we got to have some family time each night.

This week has not been quite as on schedule because of Spring Break, but we will be right back at it starting on Friday. I always like to get back into the “routine” a few days before school starts up again so that the kids are already “in” their routines and not just forced to get back into the swing of things so abruptly.

I’ve been trying really hard to stay on top of everything and to not let things slip. For the most part it’s working, but I do need to find out how to have some “me” time in the middle of all of this. My milk supply has dropped quite a bit and seeing as we are not even remotely ready to wean, I’m doing all I can to up it again. I made a big batch of Milk Increasing Herbal Tea and have been drinking that and chugging a ton of water on top of that. I’ve also been trying to make myself sit and really rest for a little bit. I’ll admit, that I find that to be a bit more difficult because there is just so much to do, but I’ve already noticed a difference and Judah seems to be a bit happier as well.

Smiles

Geli is heading in for another dose of Chemo on Thursday so we’d love some prayer that she’d handle this next dose well. She has 2 more doses, including this one and then we wait for the next round to start…..Every day, takes us one day closer to the end.

Things have been busy, but we are gaining ground, I think?!? It’s slow going, but we will make it through this.