It's Been A While

**I hope to re-cap the holidays and events of the past few months with picture posts in the near future.**

As May comes to a close and we roll on into June I realize it's been a whole THREE MONTHS since my last entry and I figure I need to document things before I forget them completely.  I could blame my lack of blogging on the slower pace of country living that we've embraced since moving to West Virginia, but I'd be lying.  If you look back in my last two posts there are clues as to the real reason for my blog recent absence.  It has to do with one very cute little girl and the pillow on my side of the bed that looks pristine since my head is hardly ever on it.  Sleep depravation sucks.  I held Adella while she slept a lot when she was 0-3 months and I even re-read what I wrote in a previous post, "I'm setting myself up for failure."  Oh how I wish that didn't come to fruition, but it has and in a big way.

From the time Adella was born until nearly four months old she slept in my arms during the day, mostly out of convenience.  I have a much better understanding now of just how critical a skill it is for babies to learn to self sooth and fall asleep on their own.  

So here's the rub of it all that makes it more than just sleep training her.  Between Adella's 4 month and 6 month check ups she had only gained a little over 1 pound.  That's not good.  Not at all.  By six months pediatricians like to see a baby at least double their birth weight.  Adella was 8 pounds 11 ounces when she was born and only reached 14 pounds 14 ounces at 6 months.  It's been an amazingly difficult balance tying to help her drop one or two of her night feedings when I know she isn't growing as she should.  I've seen a lactation consultant and my supply doesn't seem to be the issue, but Adella had started to nurse for shorter times since the twins prove to be quite the distraction for her.  So I made a concerted effort to sit in her nursery with the door closed while nursing her to help eliminate distractions and hoped that'd increase her milk intake.  And it has helped, but not enough.  Not to mention that while I'm doing that Ian & Suzie are being babysat by Rachel Coleman of Signing Times - yeah, I totally get mommy brownie points for that, not :-/  We started Adella on cereal at 5 months and pureed fruits & veggies at 6 (which was just on the 7th of May) and while it helps her to get a few more calories in, the weight on the scale hasn't gone up quite as much as I'd hoped.

I usually put her down for the night between 6:30-7pm then she is up again sometime between mindnight-1am, back to sleep, up again between 3-4am, back to sleep and up for the day between 6-7am.  I was totally okay with that schedule at 3 months old, but she should be able to drop the 1am for sure by now and even the 3-4am one too.  I have not gotten more than 4 hours (and 4 hours is A LOT right now) of consistent sleep since before she was born - November 2012 - and if affects everything.  Seriously, I feel like I'm barely treading water over here.  The thought has crossed my mind so many times how much harder this would be if I had kids old enough to be in school and have activities to go to or if a paycheck for out family depended on me functioning at full capacity during the day.  So there is some silver lining in all of this.  But really, I have not been firing on all cylindars since....hmmm, well not sure about that one.  Probably since the twins 1st birthday since right after that is when all of Suzie's breathing problems started and filled me with worry during the end of Adella's pregnancy.

After the twins have had their dinner, are bathed and put into bed, Adella nursed and in her crib I then have no energy or desire to spend my precious evening moments blogging.  I spend them in bed.  Since I know it'll only be a few short hours until I'm up again :-(  The current issue Dave and I are discussing and praying about is supplementing with formula.  I know breast milk is best, but what I learned from the twins when my milk never really came in and we turned to formula - a well rested mommy is better!   I wasn't sure how nursing would go this time around and I truly feel blessed to have had this bonding time with Adella.  But now it's time for sleep.  I worry about supplementing then my supply coming to a screeching halt.  I worry about her not transitioning well.  I worry about the added cost of formula (even though it will be no where near what it was with the twins).  I worry if I'm doing the right thing by even thinking about formula.  Then I remember, I haven't had a full nights sleep in over SEVEN MONTHS!  Then the worries are all put into perspective because honestly, I'm too tired to worry.  She will grow.  She will thrive.  And we will all start to do more than just survive.  Oh, happy day!

We love the new house and have enjoyed the location of it so much!

Our first family photo in front of our new home!
I think my dad actually got a shot of all 5 of us looking on his camera.

It has been such a blessing to open the door and let Ian and Suzie walk right out to play.  No worries of fast cars zooming by (did I mention we live off a gravel road?) or running too far away since we have 3 acres for them to explore.  The views are stunning and I hope I never get used to them.  I love seeing the sun rise over the barn across the street.

View from our front porch rockers.
Yes, the grass is super long right now.  That's on the Saturday honey-do list :-)

I've loved watching the baby foal learn to use it's long lanky legs while it's Momma stands close by.  I enjoy seeing and pointing out all the animals in our back yard to Ian and Suzie - deer, ground hogs, cats, turkeys, beautiful robins, blue jays and orioles, butterflies, farm cats and a sheep down the street.  Along those lines there are also some critters we're not so fond of around here, mainly stink bugs which have tried to take up permeant residence in our house.  It's an ongoing battle.  We drive to Martinsburg for Target or Winchester for Costco shopping, but there is an Aldi here which helps.  We are big Aldi fans.  Not everything there is great, but there are so many of those generic brands that work for us and it really helps stretch our food budget.  Of course regular grocery stores are just a few minutes away also.

The church ward here is small.  The smallest I've ever been a part of.  Which means every member pulls their weight.  Dave was called to be the ward mission leader our SECOND Sunday here.  Between his commute and that calling he stays pretty busy.  I get to teach Sunday School to the 16-18 year old youth.  I love it!  They are such amazing teenagers and I try each week to prepare engaging lessons where my ultimate goal is being a moderator of a discussion they have amongst themselves rather than stand and talk for the entire hour.  The Come, Follow Me lesson outlines are great and really lend themselves to this format.  Since we both have 2nd hour callings we put the twins into nursery right when we moved here even though they were 1 month shy of the 18 month mark.  They are the youngest ones in nursery, but my oh my it has helped our Sundays be so much more do-able.  There are still tricky things to figure out.  Like the time the bishop asked us to give talked the same Sunday - 1 adult with 2 toddlers and a baby is NOT the easiest thing in the world to manage, but just like other parents we figure it out as we go.