Where did June go?!?!

That's a good question. Let me fill y'all in.

June started on a Friday, and I got some exercise videos I ordered. I'll be telling you about that in a different post.

June 4-8 was VBS at our church! The kids learned about the colors of the church year and what they mean. I missed the first few days, because I was home with Andrew who was sick with some virus. We had a short service on Friday where the kids sang the song they learned. Judah sang great for that, but Andrew, not so much. On Sunday, they sang the same song, and Andrew ended up dragging Judah up to the front of the church and sang the whole song looking oh-so cute, but Judah just stood there looking extremely sad. Stage fright? Who knows...

VBS projects in a line

We had a few days to get our house in order before our guests, the Gullixsons, came on the 12th from southern California on their way to synod convention in southern MN. We got to show them our "farm" and went to a state park where we hiked and picnicked. They left to head north on the 14th, while we quickly got things around to leave a day later to also head north. We stopped at my parents' in central Iowa on the 15th for overnight, then up to Mankato to stay with family for the annual ELS convention.

Outside the Runge Nature Center with Abel (3), Judah (4) and Andrew (2)

A hollow tree on our hike

You're a little lopsided...

The Gullixsons and Merseths

During that synod week time, in one 3 bedroom, 2 bath house, we slept 11 children and 8 adults. (For those of you who know me, that included me and Jeff and our 3 boys, Jeremy and Angie and their 4 kids, John and Steph and their 4 kids who live there, and my parents-in-law John and Lorena! James and Danielle and their two kids live elsewhere in Mankato, so they didn't need sleeping quarters.) This was the first time we've all been together for about two years, since Jer and Ang moved out to Oregon. So it was a great time of family togetherness! All of us even got to go up to "the farm" in northern MN and spend time with Great Grandma Merseth.

Fun in Mankato. Playing outside in the city is much different than playing outside in the country. Adult supervision required! Once I discovered that Andrew had wandered outside by himself... thankfully he was just playing behind the house.

Cousins and waterguns. Enoch's in the wagon. A hot day!

Up north family photo

Grandma and Grandpa Merseth with their 13 grandchildren

Enoch riding high

A little Polaris Ranger fun.

Andrew: Hey guys, wait for me!

Judah slept in a bunk bed one night... he fell off during the night. No more bunk bed without sides!

This was just too cute... Andrew put on his cousin Amber's shoes.

On the 26th we started our trek back home, but without Judah. He got to go to Ohio with three of his cousins to visit Grandma and pa Merseth. We will be going to pick him up at a half-way point in a few days. On the evening of the 26th we made an overnight stop at my parents' again before continuing on to our house the next day. We arrived in the afternoon of the 27th to a dry, brown landscape and hot hot temps.

One of our pit stops...

The next several days were spent watering the garden. We came back to an overgrown jungle... well, almost. It was really weedy. You'd think with no rain while we were gone, the weeds would've died out, but not so.

We also were pretty exhausted after all our driving. Just a lot of car time... the boys did okay, but there were some times when they were crying to be let out. Andrew would beg to get out and walk. It's taken me a while to get things back in order (well, sort of in order...). But it feels so good to be home! And it really does feel like home! Home is where the mess is, right? ;-)

Thoughts on Sleep OR The Little Boy Who Refused to Nap

Daddy was sleeping, so they thought they'd "sleep" too.

There once was a boy named Andrew who thought that life was too interesting to be missed, so at about 2 1/2 years old, he decided to not nap as often. His mommy went crazy. The End.

Okay, so that's a terrible story.

But in all seriousness, I think I need my children to nap more than they really need it. Like if I want to take a nap. Or clean something. Or just have some peace and quiet all to myself.

So for the past 2 months, give or take, I've been trying to adjust to life with fewer naps for my children. Judah (4 1/2 y.o.) has always been a good napper, and still kind of needs naps. But if Andrew doesn't take one, Judah doesn't think he needs to take one. He IS the bigger brother after all. And as the bigger brother, he can't possibly take a nap if Andrew stays awake. He's got the older brother image to keep up, ya know.

Before I continue, I need to explain something. When Judah was a baby, I took sleep schedules VERY seriously. When it was time to sleep, there was practically nothing, save church attendance, that would interfere. And Judah seemed to do very well with that. He was a good napper, and a relatively good sleeper.

Enter Andrew two years later. I had visions of the same type of schedule. Well, I tried, anyway. The same basic outline sort of applied. But Andrew just never seemed to need as much sleep as Judah, and he wouldn't sleep as long for naps. And he was a bit more fussy. But I still took a sleep schedule quite seriously, planning life around the sleep schedules.

Fast forward another two years, and we have Enoch. I still use a sleep schedule for him... but I'm not nearly as tied to it as with the other two. Enoch is more easy-going than the other two. I'm not sure if it's just because I'm more easy-going with my third baby, or if Enoch is more easy, but probably a combination of the two. If I want to go somewhere, I just drag my kids along and hope Enoch naps along the way!

I said all that to say this: I've become somewhat more lax on sleeping the kids. I have a few more random thoughts to say on that later, but now, I want to continue on about Andrew.

I went through several weeks where I was going head-to-head with Andrew in a battle to get him to nap. The battle would last 1-2 hours where sometimes he would end up napping, and sometimes not. I'm not quite sure how you force a child to sleep, especially one as headstrong as Andrew.

So, I've learned to just take the nap days that I can, and if it's not a nap day, get them playing hard so that the blessed bedtime comes early. We've had bedtime come during suppertime. We just roll with it.

I'm not sure if this is a ploy to have more "mommy time", but it's gotten so that Andrew won't fall asleep (if he's going to fall asleep at all) unless I lay beside him on his tiny little bed. But today, after a failed attempt on my part for a naptime, all Daddy needed was one minute, and Andrew was out. Puh-lease. What is it about dads, anyway?!

Okay, so Andrew will nap like every other day, or every third day. I'll take it.

Now, for my random thoughts on sleep... I've been thinking about what mothers have been doing for centuries, when they lived in tents, small sod huts, riding across the prairie, living with many children in a few small rooms. How did they do the sleeping thing? I know how sensitive my children are to sounds. I am just imagining living in a sod house with sheets to separate rooms, me clanging in the kitchen, the big brothers playing loudly beside me, and the baby in a bed behind a thin sheet next to us. Did the babies just get used to it, and when they got tired enough they passed out? I want to know!

The other thought I have is this: the house we currently live in is small, yet I know that six children were raised here. There is a small bedroom off the dining room, which is the boys' room. I think that was the parents' room. And then there is a bigger bedroom off the living room, which is our bedroom, which houses a queen bed, dressers, and a crib. But that room probably housed six children. I'm just sitting in amazement as I think of it.

The moral of the story: Sleep is important. So I'd better go sleep while I can... Good night... zzzzzzz...

Enoch: 4-6 months

I got a head start on this post, since Enoch didn't officially turn 6 months until April 24th, but I wanted to make sure and get some pics and info loaded on here while I had a chance. This is going to be mainly a photo-love blog post.

Wowsers, this boy is growing! At six months, he's got six teeth that have poked through, front two bottom and front top four. His hair is turning more blonde. He army crawls everywhere, and was doing that at about five months old. His big brothers' toys are the best. He's content, once fed and changed, to be put down on the floor, and then he can get around anywhere he pleases from there. I try to keep the floor free of debris, but sometimes it feels like a losing battle with two other little boys...

I introduced runny egg yolk from a gently fried egg at just after four months, which he loved, and he's still going strong with that. Every morning at breakfast, that's what he has. More recently, I've mixed some mashed avocado with the egg yolk, and also mashed banana. He's not a real big fan of the thicker texture, but tolerated it with funny "yuck" expressions. His first "word" (at 5 1/2 months) if you could call it that, was mama. Sometimes he is talking to me, and sometimes, he's just babbling mamama. He likes to blow bubbles and jabber. He is still nursing. And if you're wondering, NO he's not sleeping through the night. But he's such a great baby all-around, I don't care. ;-) We love him to pieces! Hope you enjoy the photos.

4th month:

1-30-12

2-13-12

2-16-12

2-17-12

2-24-12--4 months old!!

5th month:

2-25-12

3-1-12

3-4-12

3-8-12

3-13-12 -- Bad picture but I love the expression.

3-16-12

Way to cover up the picture, mom...

3-17-12

Gramma Linda and Grampa Allan came for a visit. We had a severe thunderstorm that weekend, and one of the trees near the house was struck by lightning!

3-20-12

3-23-12

3-24-12 -- 5 months old!

6th month:

4-12-12 -- He loves his baths. Soon he'll be too tall for the tub! He's got chunky legs!

4-17-12

4-18-12

4-24-12 -- 6 months old!

We were visiting a parishoners' house this evening, and they had a swing set!

While at their house, I did a bit of a "photo shoot"... well, as good of one as this non-photographer could do!