Around Here: Week 28 2021

 {July 4-10th}

Hosting... fourth of July at our house.  It was such a fun day!  My parents, sisters family, cousin Alix's family, brother-in-law and his girlfriend and my nephew and his girlfriend all came to swim and eat and be together.  
I went on my first ever "beer run" (at 38) to get more White Claws and Truly's.  haha!

Sending... Jack home with my parents for a sleepover and getting a bonus night for him at my sister's house.  He had so much fun with his cousins and grandparents, kayaking and swimming and making some sweet summer memories.  

Discovering... the twins struggle to sleep apart. Logan could NOT sleep with Jack gone.  Poor kid! Makes me worry about when they grow up and no longer live together or share a room. 

Letting... Logan go sleepover at his friends' house since Jack was out of town and he was bored. 

Planning... our garage sale and gathering all the last bits and pieces that we no longer need or want.  It has been the biggest project, but I am so happy with how the house is feeling now that it's less cluttered, more organized and I know where everything is. 

Noticing... the blue sky and the amazing clouds we get here.  I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so it was rare to have a beautiful sunny day with blue skies and fluffy white clouds.  It was often grey and more often raining.  I don't think I will ever get over the lovely skies here and how dry it is. It's just the best. 

Listening... to Glennon Doyle's new podcast "We Can Do Hard Things" and loving every second.  She always does it with her sister, Amanda, but sometimes her wife Abby joins them, and they are just so relatable and the things they talk about are the same as what is often on my mind.  This week was entitled "Queer Freedom" and in it Abby talked about how she separated the idea of God from that of the church, and Glennon answered the hard questions: Can I love you and disagree with your lifestyle?"

Her answer:

"You don't disagree with someone's identity. I am queer. 

You're not disagreeing with me, you're rejecting me. 

It's not soft to disagree with me. It's violent. 

So the question is:

"Can I reject you and still love you?"

And the answer is "No."

Loved that.

Celebrating... all the kids being cavity free at the dentist.  It's the first time that all four kids have gone and been "sugar bug free"! We were ecstatic!

Resting... a lot these days and sleeping in as often as possible.  The kids are super self reliant and I feel like I've made it to the end of a marathon whose final leg I couldn't see.  It snuck up on me.  

For so many years on the weekends, I would get up with the kids on Saturday, and Josh would get up on Sunday so the other could sleep in on their "off day", and now we can sleep in every day, and the kids can feed, dress and entertain themselves.  Suddenly we have the freedom to sleep in, or run an errand or go for a walk, and they can take care of each other. It's mind blowing to finally be in this stage.

Building... a Lego bus!!! (Well, Wyatt did!) He worked so darn hard on that thing, and his ability to follow directions and master these amazing Lego builds is beyond me. I joke that even if he did need help, I could likely not help him! So it's a good thing he knows what he's doing. 

Kayaking... as a family at the lake and then coming home and making dinner for the family.  It just felt really good, like maybe I'm not doing everything wrong.  To be out in the sunshine with them, and to nourish their bodies with good food felt really nice. 

Reading... Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (for the third time) and loving it just as much as ever.  It's such an old book, yet somehow timeless.  She (the writer, a wife and mother) makes me feel so seen and understood.  I listened on audio the first time, and really enjoyed it, then I read the book.  

I loved these quotes in particular:

"We do not see the results of our giving as concretely as man does in his work."

and

"Solitude, says the moon shell.  Every person, especially every woman, should be alone sometime during the year, some part of each week, and each day."

and this was my favorite:

"How to remain whole in the midst of the distractions of life; how to remain balanced, no matter what centrifugal forces tend to pull one off center; how to remain strong no matter what shocks come in at the periphery and tend to crack the hub of the wheel."

Attending... book club in person with nearly the whole group for the first time in almost a year and a half.  I was so happy to sit among my friends and discuss our lives.  Being wives and mothers and how the book impacted us and what stood out.  Just to feel so buoyed up by their love and understanding.  Gosh I am thankful for those ladies. 

Walking... with my friend Becky this week to meet some health goals we set.  It was HOT, but at the end we were glad we went!

Taking... Logan to the doctor for a same-day appointment when he got a really bad headache that caused numbness in his left side and nausea.  He came home from my friend Shana's (where he was going to work for her) and threw up.  After the vomiting, he felt much better, but this is at least the third time that he has had a headache so bad it made him vomit.  
The plan is for him to have a prescription of the same meds I take for my migraines (sumatriptan) and to order an MRI to make sure that this isn't anything to do with his Chiari malformation that they found a few years ago from imaging we did during his seizures. 
My little brother had migraines that made him throw up during middle school, and my mom and I both suffer migraines, so I think that's all it is, but I will be relieved to rule out anything more serious.  Especially since we just weaned him off his seizure meds and he is now grown out his epilepsy.

Laughing... at Molly eating Grady's dog food out of his bowl.  Sometimes he scoots her away gently and eats it himself, but sometimes he's not hungry, so she will eat a few kibbles.  It's so silly, they are bigger than her paws!

Grateful... to Josh for taking all the kids to the land for the day to play with cousins while I got a day to myself in the quiet house.  It was ever so lovely and I don't know that I'll ever tire of being in my house alone occasionally. 

Catching... a sweet moment between Logan and Carly (which tend to be pretty far between) when he was teaching her how to lean into the front door to get the deadbolt to unlock.  She struggles with that and it was so kind how he took a minute to show her.  The two of them can be oil and water, as they both want to be the boss of the other, so tender moments between them stand out. 

Enjoying... date night by going for a swim with Josh and his brother Samuel and her girlfriend.  I feel so lucky to have our pool, and to have Josh's brother here in town to join us occasionally for pizza and a movie, and that this is our life. It's so beautiful. 

***

This brought me comfort:

Food for thought:

I follow Tiffany Roe on instagram and her insight to church abuse and the pain of leaving the church has been very healing. 

***

Around Here: Week 27 {2018}

Reading... The Book of Essie (and really wondering what is going to happen!) and listening to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (and wondering how she is going to turn out!).  I am really enjoying both.  I also wrote two blog posts this week about books: One is a mid-year check in for my 2018 reading goals; and the other is my June Books post with mini-reviews of the eight books I read last month.

Sleep training... Carly again after getting home from vacation where she slept in bed with us.  She has been having nightmares (in one there were bears that she accidentally set free when she touched their paws through the cages and when they escaped, they wanted to snuggle her.  Then they were in her crib.  By the time I got in her room, she was straddling her crib like it was a horse and screaming, "Get me outta here!"  It was totally traumatizing! In the other, a little girl was putting wasps on her eyes and she couldn't see because of them.), not wanting to go to sleep and not wanting us to shut her bedroom door.  Needless to say, there have been some sleepless nights and looong bedtime routines in the Cunningham household as of late, but I think we have finally turned a corner and she's back to falling asleep quickly, thank the Lord!

Enjoying... being job free.  I honestly had no idea how much stress my job was adding to my life until Josh told me I could quit.  And now, just being a mom, I feel like I won the lottery.  I am so much more carefree and less stressed about time and sleep and everything!  It's ridiculous! I am able to read bedtime stories and linger longer with the boys at bedtime to talk and have heart to hearts (my favorite) instead of rushing them to sleep so I can go to sleep so I can be awake at 4:00 in the morning.  We can all feel the difference.

Playing... in our backyard.  The weather has been far more mellow this year than usual, only in the low eighties, so we've been mostly hanging at the house, not heading to the pool, each afternoon.  The kids put the sprinkler under the trampoline and fill up water balloons, they have squirt gun fights and I set up a "water table" of sorts for Carly with camp wash basins.  I read while they play.  It rocks.  Tons of fun, but with all the comforts of home.  It's just the best.

Allowing... the boys (and even Carly) to make their own pizzas for movie night last weekend while Josh was out of town helping his parents work on their house to prepare it for sale so they can move here (!!!).  They had so much fun choosing what they wanted to make (I'll be doing a post with pictures soon) and I felt like a fantastic mom for saying "yes" to fun.

Solo-momming... it while Josh was out of town for a few days helping his parents.  I worked really hard before he left to make sure that I could be a fun mom while he was gone, and we ended up having a great time!  Each night one of the boys got to stay up late with me and watch a movie and have a special treat.  They also got to sleep with me in my room.  I love that they still like spending extra time with me, and I cherish those memories.

Helping... our in-laws with their land and their new "tiny house" as they are preparing to move here.  We're hopeful they'll be here full time before summer is over (I cannot WAIT to have grandparents in town!) and it's been so amazing to witness all the work they have done both to their old house, to their new land and to their new temporary "tiny house" that will be "home sweet home" while they wait for their dream house to be built.  Josh and his brother, along with their nephews and sister, spent the week helping his parents build the shop, seen above with the picture of Logan who fell in the pit while playing on the land when Grandma and I were at the laundromat doing load after load of laundry.  The shop is huge, and the work they're doing is monumental.  They are such hard workers!

Washing... all our laundry at the laundromat on Thursday this week when Josh volunteered to take the boys with him to the land so Carol (his mom) and I could take just Carly with us to get all the laundry done.  I have been without a washing machine for three weeks now and I am just about to lose my mind.  I told Josh that I am going to be so grateful to do laundry in my own house, whenever I want, once the washer is fixed!!!  In the meantime, I am so grateful for the laundromat, and also for our neighbors who let us do emergency loads there (at least three a week) when something pops up between visits to the laundromat.

Walking... everyday this week with the kids.  It's been so good for my body & soul to walk (it's nearly two miles) each day, and the kids seem to enjoy it as well.  I am more patient, more kind and have more energy when we go after breakfast each morning.  I walk, pushing Carly in her stroller, and the boys ride roller blades, scooters or bikes, circling back and always beating me home.  They're so speedy!

Witnessing & recording... Logan having a seizure last Sunday.  Apparently as it began he was able to say, "Get her!" to Wyatt who yelled to me that Logan was having a seizure. So I ran into the room and began videoing so I can show the seizure to his neurologist who hopes to be better able to diagnose the location where these newer, absent seizures are beginning.  He has now been five days seizure free, and is down to only 300mg 2x a day of the Trileptal (read all about his recent neurology visit and medication change here) so we are hopeful that weaning him off the Trileptal is exactly what he needs now that he's on the right dose of Lamictal. 

Celebrating... the fourth of July with family, family, family!  Josh's parents, brother & nephew, as well as my parents, sister and nephews and niece were all here to help us enjoy the day, and what a fun day it was! Good food, water balloons, a game of Uno, Pop Its for the kids... just so much fun!!!

Taking... Wyatt to the emergency room at 7:00am Friday morning after waking up to him screaming in the living room and the twins running into the room yelling, "Mom! Wyatt's bleeding! Turns out he and the twins were having a really fun pillow fight until he fell and hit his head against the rocking chair.  The force of it split the back of his head open, and it was bleeding quite a bit.  Josh cleaned it (I couldn't do it because it was hurting him) as Wyatt nearly hyperventilated and asked repeatedly, "Am I going to be okay?" and as we got it cleaned up, I just couldn't tell how deep it was, so I told Josh I thought I better take him in.  The ER doc said we could have left it, and it probably would have been fine, but with all the summer activities (sweating, swimming, helmets) it will have a lower chance of getting infected with that one little stitch in there.  So she numbed it with some gel, and then stitched him up.  He was scared, and there were lots of tears, but he was also so very brave.  I was a very proud mama. 

Going... to the pool Friday with my parents and sister, along with her three kids.  Oh boy did we have a lot of fun!  All seven of our combined kids are fish, and they had a blast!  With four adults, we were easily able to divide and conquer and keep all the kids (mainly Logan, Carly & Roxanne's baby) safe.  The kids all listened really well and stayed close to their designated adults, which made me grateful, and we all ended up having a lot of fun.  I'll have more pictures coming in a post soon.  I LOVE taking pictures at the pool.  All the water and bright swim suits and smiling kids- what's not to like?!?

"There's two of them?! Are you kidding me?"  ;)

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