My Battle With Breastfeeding

Nursing your baby is the most natural thing in the world. We were made for it and it comes easy to us. From the first latch, nursing is nothing but an amazingly supernatural bond that can never be broken.

Eh! Wrong!

Nursing sucks, like seriously. I don't mean to sound ungrateful or make anyone feel bad, but the media portrays it one way, and it's not. For anybody I've ever met. It's exhausting-both physically and mentally. It can be painful at times. It's a struggle.

It IS natural, but it doesn't come natural. And I hate that the media-on the breastfeeding side-portrays it that way. And then when we don't or can't feed them ourselves, we feel guilty. I struggled with this for awhile. I could not figure out why God would make  "so natural" so hard on us. I finally realized WE are the reason for that-our diets, the chemicals we are exposed to, etc. But before I get off on that tangent....

When my first daughter was born, I just knew I was going to nurse her. But when she was born, the LC tried to help me latch her and it hurt, so they basically just said, "Give her a bottle." For the next 8 years, I blamed that hospital for the reason I did not nurse her. In reality, I never would have anyway. Because at some point, I would have faced another trial and I would not have the support system, resources, or guts to stand up and say, "I'm going to get through this. This too sha'll pass." But at that time I didn't realize that breastfeeding was challenging. I didn't realize it when I got pregnant again either.

I never read a book on breastfeeding. I never watched an informational video. But I had several friends who nurses and they made it look easy as pie! Of course what I didn't realize is that most of them had 4 or 5 kids and nursed them all. I was never a fly on the wall when they were first learning.

When Sweet Sara was born, the midwife told me to take off my bra before she came out so I could nurse her. I was so overwhelmed with excitement because I just knew she would cone out and latch right on and the whole world would be bliss. Instead when she came out, I couldn't stop kissing her. She was absolutely beautiful. She was quite literally an angel from Heaven. Then I chickened out. Everyone was watching...so I asked for a lactation consultant to come in. They sent her in once I was all fixed up and she showed me what to do. I thought, "Bingo! I know how to do this." But the next feeding came around and I was completely lost. She came in, showed me, and I realized it hurt. Like really hurt. Bad. I just wasn't up for this after giving birth. This was the first of many times I almost gave up in the hospital.

I almost gave up after the lactation consultant came in over 10 times in 3 days. I almost gave up after a night of bad latchng and cracked nipples. When I got home I almost gave up after even the nipple shields were painful. I almost gave up when she fed 24/7. And then again when I found out my supply was truly low (because of her tongue tie I didn't know about).

I found hope in these things: Donor milk from one of my best friends so my nipples could heal, Fenugreek, lactation cookies, and power pumping for boosting my supply. Le Leche League who told me about her tongue tie. Most of all, having her tongue clipped!

These days I still struggle though. When growth spurts come. And when she is teething hard core because she stays on the breast consistently for the rush of pain relief it gives her. And when she wants to nurse to sleep but can't stay asleep longer than 30 minutes at a time. It turns into a cycle. Some days I feel like I'm nailing this Mom thing. Other days I feel drained, like all I do is nurse while my 8 year old goes off to do her thing. It's exhausting. It is one of the most challenging things I have ever done, but yet I choose to do it anyway.

Don't get me wrong, nursing my second has been worth all the tears I've shed and pain I've experienced. Knowing that I am capable of making the milk that put the fat rolls on her legs. Watching her doze to sleep after she finishes her "naptime milkies." Looking her in the eye as she looks up at me while eating, while at the same time clawing my chest with her infant talons. Or when she stops nursing just to give me her adorable little baby smiles. Being able to calm her with my body when she is scared or in pain. Nursing on demand is more than nourishment. It is comfort in times of fear and pain. It is a familiar place and human contact whenever it is needed. But it didn't come easy. And I wouldn't have made it through without my amazingly supportive Husband who has been to the store for nipple cremes at all hours of the night. Who has watched me cry and cheered me on. Who has held her while I got just a few minutes of sleep before the next feeding stretch. He is Just Amazing.

And so is she. She knows my body. As she grows, she can push my breast if she wants a faster flow. Her hands know exactly what to do to get exactly what she needs. And my body knows just what to give her, how many ounces to make and if she is sick. It is truly awe some to see all my body and my baby can do by dancing together during meal time, nap time, and beyond.

Welcome To Motherhood of Multiple Children

Where a peaceful life means avoiding the grocery store and making something simple for dinner.

The dishwasher is in the process of being fixed. I have resolved to do my grocery shopping online or pick up what I can't order from Aldi during S's swim class. The crockpot is my best friend. And I'd love to get a robot mop.....Maybe one day.

Things I said I'd never do. But I've had to proritize. With Sam, as an only and an older child, I had too much time on my hands. Now with Sara, I have not enough. And I have to choose.

Do I want to miss these months where they grow way too fast? Or do I want to suck it up and deal with a halfway cleaned house?

So now I have some dog hair behind the couch, the crockpot stays on the counter, and they're are a few unfinished projects at the top of the basement stairs. And the laundry may or may not stay one load behind. But it pretty much did that before. So not too shabby considering I have cloth diapers in the rotation now. Luckily, I have realized...it will all be there waiting on me when I'm ready. When Sara takes naps while I'm not holding her. When she isn't nursing as much. When Sara and Sam are busy playing together. Whe.mBecausen Sam and I are not in the midst of a learning explosion. One day we will be out of this stage and I will miss it. Until then, I'll enjoy them both and forget about the house and shopping in the store and having 3 course meals for just a little while longer.

Gotta keep this short and sweet because life is busy lately, but I have a few things I'm so excited about, but nobody wants to hear me go on about. Poor Hubby has to though.

Me:

I start working next Wednesday. By "working" I mean 4 hours a week. lol I will have both the girls and a 7 hour day just seemed way too long to have them and be working. So I am working afternoons, 1-5, which is just so perfect for our schedule. Clean in the morning, then work with Sam, then work. She will get her attention and not be as needy while I am there. I will be the post abortion counselor and outreach coordinator. My job will be counseling clients like usual, but the post abortive and abortion vulnerable will be specifically scheduled for when I am there. I will be doing recivery studies-individual and running the group study, which sounds like a lot, but it isn't because women aren't exactly lining up at the door to tell everyone about their abortion. My job will also be to make connections with churches and other Christian organizations to refer women who have had abortions to us for counseling. And then or course speaking at churches like usual. The best part is, she said I can clock another 4 hours a week at home if I do any work. Specifically, when Jessie is home with the girls, I will probably make calls to churches, meet with pastors and other entities, etc. So I'm nervous, but excited. Too much is changing around here. New baby. New car. New job. I am nervous about being tied down to something, even if it is only 4 hours a week. I am bad about not wanting to dedicate ourselves to stuff, even though I do all the time. I'm not flaky, but I want to able to have the option of flaking without being irresponsible. Know what I mean? Maybe not....Anyway...

Jessie:

He finished yet another semester of school! He has never been this dedicated. I feel so bad for him and I want to help, but we are both running ourselves dry here adjusting to the new normal. He is doing a great job, carrying all As and only has a year or maybe a little less left in his academics. So yay him.

Sara:

Sara is growing fast! She is two months old now. She is having her tongue clipped so she can eat better. She isn't gaining much weight. :( Anywho, after her "surgery" she should be fine and start eating more and gaining. I am noticing all the small stuff that I never did with Sam because I was a new Mom and because she was in daycare during her good hours. But the other morning, I was sitting with Sara and just watching her. And I noticed that she was starting to notice her feet! She kept pulling them in and watching them. And then she kept trying to coordinate her hands to grab them. She was not successful that day, but it's coming soon. She is growing so fast. I put her in a jumper yesterday and she could stay balanced and play. She rolls over. She is just too darn big and strong! My Husband and I both got excited the other day when she reached for the toy on her carseat on purpose! That's right! She was batting at it on purpose!! We were in cloud 9 the rest of the night.

Samantha:

Samantha had been struggling a big for my attention lately. And as much as I want to be super mom, you can't get there just by baking the best treats and leading all of the activities. So I've been trying to keep my relationship with her going strong. It's tough though. She has so much energy from being locked in the house all day in the Winter since activities have not started back yet. And she is SO hyper. Not to mention all the changes she has been through. I keep reminding myself she is adjusting too. Anyway, we listen to audio books in the new car that has a working radio and CD player. We play lots of games in the afternoons, go out for special treats, and I make it a point to have meaningful conversations. Last night she helped me clean so I could spend time with her today and not worry about anything. We talked about how bad she wanted to be a nurse and she decided she wanted to volunteer at a hospital, so we will see where that goes. I am ready for activities to start back and pretty weather to return. I think the cold weather depresses her a bit because she has always had issues in cold weather. She is very emotional, so even the rain effects her mood.

Which brings me to my next point, I'm so nervous about everything starting back! We will be so busy that I literally had to make a list of everything to do around the house each day, right down to things like, "Lay out the Chicken and make the sauces for crockpot dinners Tuesday and Wednesday." "Make Jessie's breakfasts for the week." I have 7 loads of laundry a week, dinner and dishes every night, weekly cleaning, AHG, Swim Club, PAT, La Leche League, CHEA, Church, now work even though I did volunteer biweekly before. Now Sam wants to volunteer. And that's all before we do any at home learning for either kid. Although I guess all that is learning....With Sara I like for her to have lots of tummy time. She likes it. I like for her to have time in her Bumbo and I like for her to hear us reading. With Sam, I like to help her learn to study her Bible, read Narnia, read Story of the World-which we just started for History, and practice some sort of math through games. I'm learning to do some of this on the go. I think we may get Narnia as an Audiobook and listen for an hour or two a week-on the way to AHG and on the way to swim. Those are both 1 hour round trip. And then while I'm at the Center, she will be doing an hour of math games on the computer. And then of course Summer leaves plenty of time to hang out and read because activities are out.....I'm starting to feel better now....I guess that is life for you. Don't want to waste a minute. With two is just seems like double even though it isn't. It's worth it though, every single minute.

2016 Fog

We woke up this morning and started the new year off right by going to church. Great message. It touched my Husband and confirmed some of my thoughts and feelings on the future. 

But anyway, I've been looking back over the past year, which really began 13 months or so ago. My Husband accepted God around Christmas time. We decided to try to adopt. Then...we got pregnant!? 

Once I got pregnant, all normal life ceased to exist. I got really sick and that was it from there. We entered a fog. Don't get me wrong. We kept going, and we had a fantastic year, but everything was focused on the baby. All my appointments, a lot of what we talked about, our time together as a family (feeling Sara kick). Toward the end, we even sat around the house waiting for her-FOR ALMOST A MONTH! Then came the newborn stage. We spent a lot of time laying around in bed. I was feeding her constantly. Everyone was drained and adjusting. It is interesting how one person took over our whole lives and changed it completely. We just got back to normal life. Well, the new normal. 

We also went through a few other changes this year. Jessie went back to school. He just finished a full semester today. And we even bought a new car, only 2 days ago! Life is changing, and it will keep on changing. 

I already expect one possible change this year. If I decide to accept, I will be working 1 day a week at the Center. Jessie will be entering his major related classes at the end of this year. (He had some credits from where he attended school a few years back.) And, we will be parents of a 9 year old! Which seems too close to preteen to me. Since their hormones started changing around then. AND we will be reading a young toddler. Somebody please pray for me! Sam is starting swim team. I will be meeting some new people through the groups I am joining with Sara, Le Leche League and possibly Kindermusik. Of course, the girls will be too-building new relationships in the community.We plan to start a new History Living book curriculum-basically the same thing we have been doing, but a new book. We will be adding twice as much Bible time in. Minor Changes= Major Outcomes. Oh, and we will be taking our first daily vacation that isn't just a hundred or so miles away....There are so many other firsts, I can't even begin to list them! 

I just can't wait. This year has a lot for us and we have a lot for it. Praying we can do more good than bad for this world this year and that Samantha learns new things along the way. 

Happy New Year

Back To Unschool

We are back to unschooling.

Well, actually, I don't know really what we do anymore.

Ah. I know what we do, we read.

Seriously, we read. I do not know how else to put it.

We are in the Narnia series right now. On Book 2 because we took a little break after Sara was born. Our living Science book is Jack's Insects. We will start that soon. And for History, we are about to start
Story of the World. All...story books. So we read. We usually read one book at a time. But sometimes more. It doesn't matter to us if we are learning Science and History every day or if we learn a little Science for a month, a little literature another few months and then History for a month or two. Whose counting? And then of course we play games. So we read and play games and she and I both are satisfied. Lots of rich learning and problem solving. Don't forget puzzles. That's before all the outside activities.

And then I count practically everything she does still. Like playing and researching her own stuff-which she is beginning to do- and spending a lot of time at the theatre this year, seeing Narnia, Charlie Brown Christmas, and even the Nutcracker at the Fox Theatre! She wants to see Matilda there this Spring. And the biggest thing of all, watching her sister come into the world! Seriously, I think she has seen enough Science to not teach anything th rest of the year. Sam was just a few feet away and I was turned around backward on the bed. She saw it all and she was mesmerized. At first she said it was gross. And she could not believe all the blood after. She kept saying she didn't like it. It was too gross.

But when talking to her a few days ago, I saw that she was just processing it all, and I think it was life changing for her. She told me in the car she thinks she would like to be a nurse in labor and delivery. Not a doctor since they don't get to deliver all day, every day. She wants to help people like my nurse helped me. (My first nurse was an angel.) She said she thinks childbirth is so amazing and magical and she wants to see it again and she wants to help women through it. She also said she loves the hospital setting. The feel she gets when she goes in. The way it is quiet and you can hear the machines and it smells clean. She wants to work in one. She is pretty set on her goal, despite the fact that I told her nurses change bed pans and draw blood, and even if she does not become a nurse 10 years from now, I still think Sara's birth changed her. I love that she has a goal. For the longest time, she would get so upset because she was confused. She would say she didn't know what God wanted her to do and so when I asked her what she wanted to do, she would say she wasn't sure. Or she would say, "Lifeguard would be pretty cool. Or construction worker." (She thinks it would be like playing blocks all day. Ha Ha.) So she has found a passion and has started her research. We will see where it takes her from here.

Other Areas of Growth:

Math: Still just doing the basics. We just learned simple division and next semester we will do fractions, and, if we have time double digit multiplication. That'll probably be this Summer.

Reading: I never help her anymore. Most of the words she asks me about, even I can't even pronounce, mostly names. She is almost done with the Julie American Girl series. She too took a break after Sara. We are all just now getting back to our own books.

Spelling: She spells like a champ. She is always coming up to me spellng words that we never practiced. Well, we don't do spelling words so we don't practice any words...Anywho, she can spell just about anything I give her, within reason, and if she can't, I correct her and the day goes on. She usually remembers it later.

Vocabulary: Her vocabulary is tremendous.  Not only does she know the meaning of words, she uses them consistently in sentences. I believe she purposely puts herself in that habit because she always asks me how she can use certain words in a in a sentence. I told her the other day I use books instead of Internet if I want to research something in depth. She asked what  I meant by "in depth," and then she asked how she could use that in a sentence. I gave her an example and then she said, so could I say, "I slept depthly last night?" Of course I told her no and we talked about why, but I haven't heard her use it since. Maybe soon. She uses a lot of adjectives also. I guess she also just picks stuff up from us reading. She likes to follow my finger/asks what words in the book mean, and she makes mental notes (according to her) on spelling and definitions.

Research: I mentioned earlier she is starting to research. She is getting good. I fell asleep with Sara the other day after a few nights of her constantly rooting around in the dark for my boobs. Tough nights. Anyway, when I woke up 2-1/2 hours later-long nap, she had cleaned her room, played with several toys, and researched better ways to listen to her favorite artist's music on You Tube. She said she had found that you could search entire albums and also learned how to spell album. I love that girl!

Being a Big Sister: I saved the best for last. She has learned so much this year about pregnancy and development. (I planned to use the What to Expect book with her, but found that she learned more by watching me throw up, going to my ultrasounds/appointments, seeing me grow, and experiencing my recovery with me.) But the learning didn't stop there. She learned being a big sister to a screaming new baby is hard! She has learned about reflux and gas and how to burp a baby and she even changed some diapers. She is learning to calm her now that she isn't completely stuck to mommy. She has played with her, researched her development, and just plain loved on her. (Yesterday they played "airplane" and Sara spit up all over her face. I told her it's part of the big sister package. lol)

All is good. This year has already been a big success. I can't wait to see what next year brings as I watch two grow. (Of course Sara does school too.) They each "take part" in what the other is doing. Sara snoozes in and out while we read and Sam shows Sara things, tells her what they are and talks to her about family and holidays. And then of course there is tummy time. Seeing them both grow makes things go by a bit to quickly for my liking, but it makes it twice as special.

Eight

Tomorrow.

She will be 8.

Eight is like the last half of 7. At 7 they started reasoning better. At 8, they really get stuff.

I'm ready.

Her major change always comes a few weeks prior to her birthday. Right after school lets back in and it is just her and me again.

This year, the change was huge.

She became more determined. Of course, she is still very laid back. But she does care more about doing things properly, especially her drawing. She has been using maniquins and specific sketch pencils. She asked for sketch paper and canvases for her birthday. She got a bunch. But she is using them properly. Which is nice. (She is using two of the canvases to paint dandelions for their bedroom wall.)

She also has better motor skills than she used to. Her swim laps look amazing. Her swim coach rarely corrects her. Her rotary breathing has also significantly improved. I can tell she is giving it even more effort than she used to. (Although, even in past semesters she has always tried hard and enjoyed swimming.) So we are allowing her to stay in and go as far as she wants to.

She has also received tons of praise from her AHG teachers. Since week one, she has become more vocal. The first day for badge work, they all stood up in front of the class and presented (which has never been a real issue for her). But they could tell she put a lot of thought into her project, a bag of things that describe her. She goofed off and made everyone laugh. She went out of her way to comfort the new girls who were nervous and try to become their friend. She lead prayer without an issue. She did flag ceremony without an issue. They just said they can tell all around she is more confident, and even though I am there occasionally as a parent volunteer which she thinks makes her cool, she does not need me in order to be confident and loving and to be able to speak her mind when they do devotions or presentations or other projects.

We went to visit my grandmother the other day after I saw the midwife. (The midwife is right down the road from her house and S asked to go visit.) It was probably the nicest visit we have ever had. Sam enjoyed hearing her stories about when she was little. They talked about the Bible, because S asked her why she had Phillipians verses up on her wall. They discussed investing, because we recently started discussing it and my Nana had run several successful businesses throughout her life. They talked about Halloween and  her costume, the book she is reading, swim class, being a big sister, everything. She felt very connected. And hearing her talk made me realize how much she is growing up and all the things she has learned and all the interests she has!

She has such a wide range of interests. Things that she spends a lot of her time doing, like:

-Drawing. As I mentioned before, she has become more interested in learning new and proper techniques and adding them into her drawings. Although, like any artist, she always adds her own spin to things. She is currently specializing in life like people and cartoon animals.

-Engineering. She just loves to build and rebuild and remodel things. She loves to draw up "blue prints" and measure things out. She loves to follow the instructions on a Lego set and then take it apart and make her own thing. She loves K'Nex. My mother in law bought her K'Nex motors for her birthday and it was one of her favorite gifts. I believe she spends a majority of her time during the day drawing building, and....

-Reading. This is a new thing. She used to start chapter books all the time and then quit them. I'd try to remind her because she so frequently forgets about things she is working on. Eventually I stopped because I figured...if those things were important enough to her, she would remember. I would not play the role of the helicopter nagging Mom. So I stopped. And as she got older, reading became more fun to her. Because it came easier of course. One day she asked to go to the library to get some chapter books, and she hasn't stopped reading since.

-Swim. That is a given to anybody who knows her. This year she has become more independant in all aspects. She walks into the building while I park the car. She goes straight to class. She packs and carries her own bag. I do still watch her in class. But afterward, she goes up to the locker room, takes a shower-without asking me to stand outside the door, she dries her own bathing suit, and then we leave! Wait...why am I starting all over? ;)

-Tennis. After attending a tennis camp this Summer, where professional coaches taught her the basics, she has been more determined than ever to get the proper techniques down. Of course, kids aren't even supposed to start tennis until 8, so she still struggles, but she is improving and can participate in adult games as long as they are not too aggressive.

-Theatre. Although she does not deaire to be on stage, this has been get another long term interest of hers. Watching theater. Learning how things work backstage. Everything. And this Winter she will be going to see the Atlanta Ballet perform Nutcracker at the Fox Theatre! She is over the moon.

-Cake decorating. This is just one more of the many art related interests she has. But she spends so much time practicing on her Play Doh. And every chance she gets to make a cake....She does. :) She asked for a turn table (to help ice cakes) for her birthday, and she got one. She was over the moon. Next week, we are making a cake, 24 cupcakes, AND cake pops for my baby shower. She has lots of decorating ideas.

-Bible. I listed this last because I would put this between emerging interest and already emerged. If you miss a week of church, you have broken that girl's heart. She wants to understand the Bible. She wants to know how to translate from Hebrew. Last week she enjoyed hearing the TRUE story of Christmas and questioning some of our cultural add-ins. She talks a lot about wanting to know God's plan for her. It actually plagues her almost to the point of tears some days. And she sometimes talks about being a missionary, but not being sure what it is that God would want her to do. And could it be somewhat local, because she HAS to have a toilet! (AHG brought in several missionaries to Summer Camp this year.) I considered letting her go on a Mission trip...when she is older, but until then, we read about missionaries and talk about types of mission work.

I can see growing interests in several areas, including investing and owning her own business. She got some birthday money and wants to save it to buy materials to make cloth dolls to sell. I also see an interest in child development. She loves small children. And hearing about development from the womb into childhood. She asks a lot about motor skills and loves to sit in on my PAT meetings and hear about different types of development.

There is so much she loves. She is so will rounded. And she is open to so many new things.

Eight.

It's gonna be good.

This is What Homeschool Should Be

Well, we are back at it. Fall is here. We went all Summer, but Fall starts the new year. This year we are doing "bare minimum" homeschooling. Meaning simple, but formal math and lots of reading.

We are volunteering at the new Center location (by my house). Unbelievably convinient. That is going well. She stays enthusiastic about helping out, which is nice. And if she isn't helping, there is an entire playroom for her to hang out in.

We have also started back "co-op" AKA reading a few Charlotte Mason books from the list with a friend and then playing before swim class. Last week the girls took turns reading aloud and encouraging each other. Those are definitely not easy reads, so props to them. Then they acted out the fables together to make things more interesting. We alternate weeks at the Center and doing co-op so the schedule isn't too booked up. We do both of those things on Wednesdays along with swim. Piling really helps.

Next week swim and Heritage Girls start.

Our home days are going well so far. It seems like our weeks are calmer than last year. I'm not scheduling a lot of afternoon stuff, like playdates because around 2 I have to crash! Baby gets tired and Baby gets hungry. So I eat and sleep before getting dinner ready.

Anyway, we have slowly learned how to spend our days efficiently-after a few frustrating days. Days where I rambled on too long and she got bored. Or days where she played like she didn't understand something that we went over ALL Summer. Or even days I wasn't sure that what we were doing was worth our time at all.

So I made up two solutions:

-A folder. Every morning she has 3 review math problems. A large addition that includes carrying. A large subtraction that requires borrowing. (for review) And a simple multiplication problem-which is what we are currently working on. Then she has to write out her own math problems (addition and subtraction three digit or more) and solve it. I mostly do this so that she can practice writing a little slower and neater and lining up her numbers without it being so long and tedious like a worksheet. Then she writes a sentence, any sentence. We go over spelling and punctuation. She has not struggled in that at all. She likes to challenge herself and she is great at spelling and grammar/punctuation because she reads so much. I feel accomplished just by getting that done. It keeps stuff fresh. After her folder she has taken to reading before getting out of bed while she eats her breakfast. Then she makes her bed and the day starts. It is excellent. Because while she does that, I have finished all my cleaning for the day. And already we have done our "bare minimum."
The second portion of the morning we play a few math games to review multiplication facts and read one of her Charlotte Mason books. A few chapters. Right now it is the Burgess Bird Book-super long. We have been on it most of Summer. Anything else is extra-puzzles, working on Sara's binder (our current project), etc.

-My second solution had been to make a list of priorities. This really helped. I could see what our priorities are, make sure that our days are being spent the way we would want to say we spent them, and see how we are doing it- and it really helps that some things overlap. I made a schedule, but won't post it. Here is the list:

God: *Church *Reading Luke together every few days *AHG

Service: *Center *AHG

Family: *Weekends are ALWAYS family time *Focus in November will be getting to know the new baby

Friends: *Play dates *Tennis *CHEA *AHG *Co-Op

Activities (Includes Fitness and Community Building): *AHG *Swim *Tennis *CHEA *WEC *Hobbies-We always have a new hobby going on. This year it is kayaks. It gets us outside in the community, staying fit, and learning about a new skill/nature.

Reading (We strive to have a well read child. If nothing else, she needs to know how to gain knowledge through reading. This encompasses our Science and History): *Co-Op *Reading CM Books Together *Independent Reading

Math (Includes Problem Solving): *Right Start 3xs a Week *Puzzles *Brain Games (We have them placed everywhere around the house.) *Legos and other building materials *Play

Practical Life: *Home Projects (Sam always helps with those.) This week it is building a new porch. Then painting Sara's room. Then clearing out land. Next semester it is building raised beds and gardening. *Housework, from cleaning to cooking. And recently, preparing for Sara by freezing meals and packing a labor bag. *Pretend Play

So that pretty much sums up how our time is spent. I have found lots of hours at the end if the day if we spend it efficiently. (By end I mean 2-5.) When Sara stops demanding so many naps from me, and she is here with us, I plan to spend that extra time focused on her. Getting to know her at first, (And of course bowing to her every demand, which will be time consuming.) and then working with her once she is old enough to sit up and play. But that is months away.

Until then, this year is going well. Calm. Just how I like it. I'm happy to be spending these last few months alone with S NOT running around like a crazy person, and just reading, playing, doing puzzles, and cuddling for an afternoon nap. This is what homeschool should be.