Around Here: Week 30 {2018}

{photo credit: Roxanne}

Reading... and finishing The Perfect Mother.  It was good, but I thought the ending was kind of lame.  I am still working through Ghosted (my book of the month book), which is honestly a bit slow.  I just started Educated on audio and am really enjoying it thus far.

Hosting... book club with the boys on the trampoline last Saturday night.  We did some reading, but mostly the boys jumped and giggled and snuggled in their blankets, which was fine by me.  Happy memories, that's for sure.

Showing off... our beautiful pink blooms in the front yard on our dinnerplate hibiscus.  It takes my breath away every time I see it.

Walking... as many days as possible this week, sweating everyday in the heat; High 90's, low 100's. 

Feeling... much better emotionally after making a list of things I will need to do for the new school year to help prepare Logan & Wyatt's teachers.  (Sending emails, having meetings, getting a new inhaler for the nurses office, etc.) Meanwhile, I have been working on staying in each day, and reminding myself that each season has a time and place, and the school year will be welcome when it comes. 

Sending... Logan to Vancouver with Josh so Josh could help his parents on their house and I could have a slightly lesser workload (3 kids as opposed to 4).  Sending Logan was my sister's brilliant brainchild-  Logan could get some much needed alone time and attention, while I could have one less kid to worry about and still be able to go to the pool everyday with ease with the remaining three.  Logan had a fantastic time with his aunt and grandma's, while the other kids and I had a fantastic time here at home.

Wondering... if Logan's seizures are going to stop altogether.  In July he had one seizure each week, which I am happy about.  It's a definite improvement.  He's been completely off his old medication for two weeks now, and I am thinking that with a little more time, his seizures will stop completely.  I guess only time will tell.

Swimming... in both the pool and the lake.  We went to the pool 3x this week, which was lovely, and the lake once.  Tuesday my sister and her family joined us at the pool and that was super fun!  We went round and round the lazy river, my sister and I, with our baby girls.  We sat on the edge of the pool, watching our boys jump in and swim.  It was a really good day. 

Enjoying... my turquoise picnic table thanks to Josh.  He spent last week power washing both the table and our backyard fence, and then put the first coat of paint onto the picnic table.  It looks so great already.  I love it!

Cleaning... house with the twins on Sunday while Wyatt watched Carly in the backyard.  They have gotten so much better (and faster!) at cleaning house since we began nearly two years ago.  I am so grateful for their help and the fact that (most weeks) their attitudes are so helpful.  Many hands make light work.  

Watching... Carly fall asleep in her high chair during dinner after a long day at the pool and letting Jack get her out.  He loved every minute of carrying her down the hall, head lolling, heavy on his shoulder, as he made his way to her bedroom.

Meeting... with my local book club for taco salad and fried ice cream Thursday night and loving those ladies and that time away from motherhood so very much.  We just talk and laugh and connect and it makes me so grateful for each one of them.  I looked forward to it all week (all month, honestly!), and I feel so filled to the top now that it's over.  Love you, ladies!
The book we read (this month was my choice!) was This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel, which I finished in two days- it was so good.  It was about a family whose fifth son wants to be a girl, but really the whole book is about all our parenting journeys- about how we have to parent and make decisions based on half information, and the only thing impacted is, oh, you know, our child's ENTIRE FUTURE. sigh. The whole time I was reading I kept thinking, "this is the perfect time for me to be reading this book" because I had been so worried about Logan & Wyatt and making choices for them and preparing their teachers for their special health needs next school year, and reading this reminded me that we are all in the same boat.  All of us, all mothers, are just doing the best we can, and wondering if it's enough.

Still... feeling so grateful for my washing machine.  Every time I start a load, I find myself feeling weak with gratitude. 

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Meditating on this gem:

Around Here: Week 28 {2018}

 

Reading... and finishing The Book of Essie, The Stranger in the Woods and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.  I started Disappeared on audio and am finishing Four Seasons in Rome.  Then I plan to start This Is How It Always Is.  I got to choose my Book of the Month book for July and I chose Ghosted.  I also chose a bonus book, Goodbye, Vitamin, which I have heard good things about.  I can't wait to get my hands on them!

Feeling... so proud of my boys for forming a book club together with me.  It was all their idea, and they are hoping to read 600 minutes total by the end of summer.  They named it The Cunningham Book Club, or "CBC" for short.  We aren't reading the same books, we just get together to read at 7:00pm (bedtime) every night in the boys' room.  I bring whatever I'm reading and they bring what they're reading and we snuggle together and read.  It's so enjoyable. 

Swimming... at the pool with the kids twice this week before they headed out of town for Grandma's Camp.  I just love the relaxed vibe at the pool.  They play music over the loudspeakers, and the warmth of the sun makes the water so inviting... it's just my favorite place to be with the kids in the summer.

Laughing... hysterically as I tried to get Jack into my lap so I could hold him like a baby after bedtime stories one night when he was pretending to be asleep.  Carly thought it was hilarious and later Josh and I commented how we really can't believe it's been a decade since we rocked him and Logan with bottles in their mouths to sleep, and now they're both nearly as tall as I am. 

Enjoying... ten days seizure-free for Logan.  He went from Sunday July 1st until yesterday, July 12th, without a seizure.  Unfortunately, he had a seizure at Grandma's camp.  He called out that he was going to have one, Jack helped him sit down, and then he began having it.  It lasted two to three minutes and he recovered quickly. 
The good news is that he was having seizures every two or three days in June.  So going ten days is a huge improvement.  And today is the last day he will take his Trileptal (the old medication he was on after his first seizures back in early 2017), so hopefully the seizures will cease after this.  The Trileptal is not a good match for the new kind of seizures he's experiencing.

Grateful... for neighbors who let us do laundry (and even fold it for us!) at their house.  What a blessing as we wait for our washer to be fixed.  The part arrived last week, but the appliance place didn't have an appointment available until Monday. sigh.  I'm sure Josh could fix it, but we have appliance insurance, so we have to go through the company.  I am trying to remain optimistic... but nearly a month without a washer is a long time for a family of six!!!

Hitting... 169 pounds on the scale and feeling amazing about being in the 160's.  I have now lost 31 pounds since January and am very proud of myself.  Walking everyday and working hard to not emotional eat is the key! 

Fixing... up little areas around my house to bring me joy as I finally work through week three of Ordinary Magic, which my sister-in-law gifted me back in June.  I started by putting my rock collection in mason jars, instead of the old wipes container they had been in.  Now every time I walk past them, they make me smile.  I also cleared a shelf in my bedroom for putting my finished books this year onto.  Next on the agenda is clearing off my nightstand and hanging some photographs in my bathroom.  Just creating little spaces of joy throughout my home.

Reading... stories to Carly from the regular bookshelves, not just her bookshelf.  It's so exciting to read her new books.  I love watching her face take in the pictures. She often asks questions, or will choose the same book a night or two in a row, so she can get familiar with the new story.  Her current favorites are We're Going on a Bear Hunt and Big Smelly Bear.

Letting... Carly try using her potty when she asked this week.  She even actually peed in it!  I gave her m&m's and she was so excited to tell her brothers about it when we Facetimed them.  I'm not sure she's ready to try potty training full time, but I was proud of her for wanting to try it, and relieved she's not scared of it.

Loving... watching my children sleep.  Something about seeing them all curled up with their sweet little heads on their pillows, clutching their favorite stuffed animals, snuggled in their blankets, just sets my heart at ease and makes my mama heart beat a little slower.

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