6 months old and other items of note

Yeah, yeah, yeah, this update is long overdue. I've been holding off in hopes that my camera will decide to start speaking to my computer again...apparently they are in a fight and until they reconcile I can't upload the zillions of fun photos I have on our camera! Anyone out there have a Sony USB cable they want to let me borrow?

Anyway, the update. Caroline turned 6 months old on September 20th. I've been reminded once again of why I always tell people that I wish babies were born being 6 months old. Don't get me wrong, I love babies. But I also like sleep and normalcy, which (at least for my kiddos) don't seem to become a dependable part of my life again until they are 6 months old. Once we got back from the beach I decided to (finally) cut Caroline off from the milk supply during the night. It took about 3 weeks to get the message that it's not really worth waking up in the middle of the night for a pat on the back, but she finally gets it. Now, after a talking to from her pediatrician, I've got to start weaning her off being swaddled. I know, I know, she's way too old for that. But because the miracle blanket works so well, both my children have been somewhat addicted to being swaddled. I stopped swaddling Katie around 3 or 4 months, but have been much lazier with Liney. I'd attempt to put her down with one or both arms out of the swaddle but would wimp out when she still wouldn't be down after 30 minutes. I'm going cold turkey now though, and she finally fell asleep for her afternoon nap after 45 minutes of fussing about it. Let's hope this doesn't mess up the good things we had going at night!

The Beanie has also entered the world of solid food eating. For months she has been looking longingly at our food, and even now would rather have a bite of my taco instead of rice cereal or pureed sweet potatoes. She's doing well so far, her favorite by far being mashed up avocado...probably because it's the closest she's come to eating what we eat! She had her 6 month check up today and is proportional in every way...75% in height (26.25 in), weight (17lbs), and head circumference.

In Katie news, she is totally on the brink of being a 4 year old. She just seems so grown up to me--so tall, so girly, with a complete mind of her own. She is, however, is a total mini-me. Which is kind of fun but also kind of bad. Fun because she enjoys doing the things I enjoy (like listening to Little House in the Big Woods and Little Women on cd), bad because she sins in the same ways I do (grumbling, greediness, etc). Pray for her. And me.

KJ continues to say things that regularly crack us up. This morning, for instance, I asked her if she wanted to go on a "w-a-l-k." (I spelled it out because that's normally what Adam and I do, even though she long since figured out what w-a-l-k spells. Like a dog, right?) Well, she thought that was fun, so she began spelling out everything for me. For example, as she offered me her plastic tea cup, "Would you like a sip of my k-s-a-g-y?" To which I replied, "Oh, lemonade, yes, please." Or later, "I'm going to be a x-j-m-r-q for Halloween." "Remind me what that spells, Katie?" "Nurse." "Of course." All of this was pretty amusing in and of itself, but then she said something that had me rolling for a good five minutes: "Mommy, can we go to the K-Y-E-S today?" "Where is that, Katie?" "The YMCA."

As for the grown-ups in our household, Adam is LOVING his counseling classes. They are super-challenging, in a really, really good, non-intellectual way. Not that they are not intellectually challenging, but they are infinitely more spiritually/emotionally challenging. I can already see a huge pay-off in his own life, which has overflowed to me.

We have our in-depth interview with "the company" this Thursday. Pray for us!!!! Pray that we would be given the green light to go on to the next step in the process, and if not, that we would trust the Lord's hand in our life.