Long Overdue Update

I love how I'm thinking of this post as "long overdue" and it hasn't even been a week yet. Sheesh, you people sure are impatient!

Anyway, here's what the week has brought us:

AARON: He's had this week off, so in between playing Super-Dad and Super-Husband, he's been working on yard projects. Once again, a simple goal like, "set up swing-set for the kids" has morphed into a job that threatens to take over the poor guy's summer. The swing set must have a "safety zone" built around it, and that involves removing a LOT of landscaping rock - first, for the actual safety zone, and second, the outside remaining rock so that he can raise up everything to fix some of the drainage issues.

He's also putting in a sandbox underneath the swingset, and while he's buying the landscaping timbers for this and the safety zone, he also decided to get the supplies for our prospective gardening beds, just in case they stop selling that kind. Now we have about 100 of these timbers stacked on the side of our house. He told the neighbors we're building a log cabin.

Aaron has also been pretty much a single parent to Leah and Ben, including taking them with him on all his excursions to Menards. He's also been in charge of getting them fed and going in the morning, which honestly earns him so many brownie points with me that I know I'll never be able to pay him back. Thanks, honey!

LEAH: Leah went to Vacation Bible School at our church this whole week - every morning, except for Tuesday, when Adam and I came home from the hospital. She simply LOVED it, which Aaron is afraid means that she'll love kindergarten more than she'll love him. (Have you EVER heard anything so silly? Or sweet?!)

She is quickly catching on to this big sister business, and a couple of times has told me she's made Adam stop crying by talking to him. The other day when she got home from VBS, Adam happened to be fussing, and Leah offered, "Maybe he's hungry?"

BEN: Poor Ben. He's had a bad runny nose this week, so Mommy and Daddy won't let him get too close to this new little guy he adores. He will frequently ask to "check" the baby, so I hold him low enough for him to get a good look. Also, sometimes if he comes into the room and I'm not holding Adam, he asks, "Where him?" or "Where my brofer?" and then needs to "check" him in his bassinet.

Last night during baths, Adam was sacked out in a bouncy seat, and Ben was wrapped in a towel, still dripping. He scuttled over to the baby, and said, "Hewo? Hewo?....Wake up!" It was pretty darn cute, even if it doesn't translate well.

MOMMY: Well, folks, the boobs and bottom have turned the corner and are returning to manageable. Adam's first night home was pretty rough on me (seriously, WHO needs to eat every 30-60 minutes for 3 hours straight?!) but Super-Husband has been making sure I have a chance for a good nap every day, so I've been doing okay in the sleep department.

I even felt ambitious enough today to start cleaning out the "exercise room" (really used to be an indoor kennel which the previous owners finished and outfitted with independent heat & cooling) so that it can be our primary entrance to the swingset/sandbox, therefore saving our carpets some wear and tear. Yesterday I vacuumed the main floor, and I've been able to keep the kitchen decent, so I figure I'm on the road to my normal housekeeping regimen. Cooking, however, may be a whole 'nother ball of wax, so thanks so much to the friends who have brought meals! If someone would write me weekly menus for the next month, that would be great, too!

ADAM: This little guy is gradually turning from a lump into a real baby. He is awake a bit more every day, which we think is helping his sleep schedule. Last night he actually had a 5 hour sleep period! And not to harp on the subject, but even more amazing to me was the fact that my boobs weren't killing me by the time he DID wake up!

He's averaging about 2 outfits a day. So far Aaron has had the brunt of the diaper accidents, but I've been peed on a couple times too - still remembering the techniques that kept me dry when Ben was a baby!

We're hoping that his current easy-going nature is not just new-baby coma, but really is his personality - when he's awake, he's content to just check things out. The only crying so far has been because I took too long to feed him, or we have the nerve, the NERVE I tell you! to change his diaper or clothes. Unlike his budding nudist brother and sister, he does NOT like to have skin exposed.

All in all, we are adjusting pretty well. Nobody has cut anyone's hair, no permanent marker has been used inappropriately, and although there has been some mud painting on the side of the house (by Leah!), things have been fairly calm.

Aaron will go back to work part time on Monday, so we'll see what my mental status is by then. If I manage to get a post up, you'll have a good idea!