Of Getting Behind

In case you have been wondering how the book has been going which I vowed would be printed, in my hands, by my Golden Birthday (which, at this point is less than two months away) . . . well, it's not looking so good.

After floundering aimlessly for awhile (ok, more than five years), I finally talked to my editor (ie, Philip) who encouraged me to stop the process of writing, re-writing, re-reading and re-writing again all of the first part of the book without ever moving forward.  I need an outline, and I need to just write.

Editing, he assured me was his job.

I didn't like that.

This is, after all, my baby.  And I alone, I felt, am capable of making sure my baby is beautiful and healthy.

But, once again, he was right (why is this always true?  and why has it taken me this long to realize?).

So, I'm outlining.  And even that is going slow.  Has anyone ever mentioned that having three kids really sucks the time out of the day?  I mean, I enjoy my time with them, but between my wonderfully rambunctious and needy little ones and a house that doesn't take care of itself (and whose messiness can be directly linked to my - and thereby Philip's - stress level), I find there are very few minutes left in the day for my own endeavors.

Thus, this is me, being accountable.  Someday this book will be finished.  At this point, I'm simply hoping all the rough draft work will be done by my birthday.

So now you know . . . in case you've been wondering.


Photos of the Day:
While waiting for Mommy and Daddy to finish gabbing with friends post-parenting-class, Micaiah (and her friends) took to the dry erase board.  This is her masterpiece depicting herself (the tallest) and her brothers (Joey would be that tiny circle of a head with two inch-long legs underneath Emmett).

And I love how this boy just needs a happy thumb to put himself to sleep (also, this onesie is so not Baby Wise - but it's pretty cute either way).

Of Re-adjusting

We in this house are huge supporters of the book On Becoming Baby Wise.  We have implemented the proposed scheduling plan on all of our children since Micaiah was a week old and we would swear up and down it has been so key to learning to handle life with babies - particularly to keeping our sanity (which we don't always succeed at, but it has nothing to do with that book).

I've noticed there are some misconceptions about the Baby Wise plan as some presume the idea of scheduling implies denying my baby food when he is ready, when, in reality, the good doctor actually emphasizes the ideal schedule to be one in which the clock and the mother's intuition work together - so, even if it's not been "long enough," I still have the right to determine if he really does need to eat again or if he just needs to be encouraged to get some more rest.

As a result of our flexible scheduling, our children have done well in the sleep department and have all been happy babies (unless they missed their nap or are just plain hungry) who had no problem gaining weight (seriously, they're chunks) - this third is no exception.  We love it.

Here's the problem: Joey has actually started sleeping six hours at a time at night - starting at 7pm.  Which means by the time we're ready to sleep, I'm convinced, every night, he's just about to wake up to eat, so I should wait.  Until 1am.  When I have to wake him up to feed him.  Ok, so he really just lasted that long for the first time last night, but he has been inching further along in the length of his sleeping and I knew it was coming.

So, how to get him to have his sleep-time coincide with ours so I can have six straight hours of sleep without going to bed at 7pm?  That's what we're trying to figure out.

I'll let you know how that goes.

1,000 Gifts:
85. Sharing the final slices of homemade bread with the kids who love it so much.
86. Washing a tiny one clean.
87. Time around the table, patiently waiting for meat to cook in the fondue pot, being a family.
88. Chopping carrots to prepare the cooking style for that same fondue pot.
89. All of Mr. Potato-head's pieces (or most of them) back together for the first time in awhile.
90. Losing track of time eating breakfast and doing "homework."


Taking Time for Play: Details
These tiny fingers are not letting that paci go.

And just because he's cute . . .