Behind in blogging

I have found that I've been lacking in my desire to blog lately. I love the blog for journalling purposes, but as the kids have grown and they've multiplied, I'm finding so much more enjoyment in just living the moments instead of always documenting them. It's a tough line to tow, because I don't want to neglect photographing moments I want to remember or quotes that I'll look back upon fondly, but I simply don't have time during the day to blog and then at night when I'm exhausted, there are other things I'd rather do. And I've noticed that when I do blog, I'm in such a rush to just upload the photos and create a caption, I'm not writing near as much as I used to anyway. 

Maybe I'll just do it on Fridays and make that a habit. Hmmm... 

We just had my parents visiting for a week and sadly, they came down with the flu hours after they arrived. So they were sick and tired and quarantined in our third bedroom for their entire stay! Boo! Not exactly the trip we were hoping for. To spend all that time and money flying across the country and then feel awful is terrible! I felt so bad for them. We still loved seeing them, but just wish it could have been more fun for them. Thankfully, none of the kids got it. 

But before they got really sick, they were able to go to Austin's Valentine's Day party at school, right after I picked them up from the airport (bless them for enduring the redeye). Austin loved having them in his class. We are so grateful that he is in such a wonderful preschool environment. If you can't be in Grammy's class, this is the next best thing. 

 Our little Valentine!

Parker's birthday is tomorrow and I just can't believe it. 6 years old. He's such a neat boy and has grown up so much lately. He has been watching a Disney show that I probably shouldn't be letting him watch since it has some more teenage-type themes in it, but he says it's so funny and when I ask him what's so funny he replies, "I don't know. I just hear the audience laughing." So some of it is going over his head. Thank goodness. Evenstill, the show discusses dating and he's become very intrigued by the concept. The other night after bath time, he combed his own hair and came out so proud. I complimented him and he said, "Well I have to look good for the girls at school if they're going to date me." I explained that that's not appropriate at his age, and maybe he shouldn't be watching that show. He replied, "Well mom, I know I can't date till I'm older but I'm watching the show now to learn how to learn about girls for when I'm older. I know they like tough and strong men." Then he proceeded to drop into pushups. This kid! He's going to give us a run for our money. Don't worry, we also followed up with what is appropriate behavior and talk for his age. Geez!

Austin is my little love and just kind of hangs out during the day. He's not demanding at all and he loves singing with me to Jackson. We love cuddling up on the bed and taking turns telling stories to each other. It's so fun and his story telling is really progressing. He is really into asking addition problems all day long. "What's 100+300??" He's really observant and while he puts little effort into academic things so far, he is always listening and we're surprised by his vocabulary and recall.

Jackson is still struggling with sleep at night. Having him in our room for the week my parents were here didn't help and he had a little cold that contributed to VERY frequent wakeups, but we're trying now to let him cry and self-soothe a little more often. Naptimes during the day are awesome though. He's a happy boy who loves baby food, but nothing he has to chew. I gave him a puff and he threw up from choking, even though it had completely disintegrated by the time it reached the point of swallowing. He loves when we sing to him and do hand movements. They don't come much better than Jackson Dahlquist. He's such a love and is so cuddly.

Okay, that's the catchup for now.