This month has felt busy and tumultuous. We’ve managed to get a lot of activities squished into the shortest month of the year. Tim and Anthony took a camping trip, Natalie started on baby food. Mimi and Papa came for a visit and took Cordelia and Anthony back for a week in AZ. The anticipated yard work has also begun in the last week.
Cordelia had a good month. She moved up two levels at the new swim school, now in level 9. She’s now doing breast stroke and starting to learn the kick for butterfly. She completed her first extra credit for Sparks and is moving onto her next extra credit. She had a great time in Arizona during break week. Her favorite part was riding the horses. She’s being a very kind and thoughtful sister. At her school’s “school store” event, she spent her hard-earned school money to buy gifts for her siblings. She also had the opportunity to feed Natalie with a bottle and baby food!
Anthony started off the month with a weekend camping trip with Tim. They went with some family friends for a “boys time” camping trip. Anthony got to shoot a compound bow and they had a great time. Anthony had his first experience getting to visit Mimi and Papa in Arizona without parents. He had a great time too and really enjoyed feeding all the animals at the petting zoo, especially the goats. Anthony also moved up a level in swim school, now in level 6. Anthony is steadily working through his Sparks extra credit and is on track to finish it by the end of the club year.
Lydia got some extra Mommy-Daddy time this month. She’s really maturing and is actively asking for ways to be a part of the family. She regularly is helping set the table for dinner. Sometimes she gets mad when we tell her there’s nothing she can help with in the moment. But it’s really nice so see her looking to help and contribute to the family. She’s a very good big sister and enjoys playing with Natalie. Lydia is enjoying her time in Cubbies and is doing an amazing job memorizing her verses.
Natalie rolled onto her tummy at the very beginning of the month! So, she’s been a lot more active this month rolling and pushing herself around. She’s pretty vocal and sometimes a bit too loud. She’s also doing a lot of smiling and laughing. We also started Natalie on baby food this month. She has not been a huge fan of it. Most of the time she tries to keep her mouth shut and we have to push the spoon in for her to eat. We’re hoping she improves soon, so eating isn’t such an ordeal.
Alicia has had a pretty slow month at work. Things have not really picked up and while she’s finding tasks here and there, it’s certainly not requiring her full effort. She’s debating if she should reach out to get more PE work, but things are uncertain on the home front, so she doesn’t want to make any commitments she’s not going to be able to keep. On the home front life has been busy and a bit stressful. We’re trying to spend intentional family time together in the evenings, which has been about 50% successful. Alicia did manage to get in a few play dates in this month. AWANA also has been keeping Alicia occupied. While she doesn’t feel “fully invested” like in past years, it’s still requiring preparation and time. Overall, Alicia has felt that this month has been tumultuous and she’s dealing with uncertainty about the future.
Tim’s month at work has been occupying but not super engaging. He had two day trips out to Julian, plus a day trip up to LA. He’s been trying to keep himself productive with his projects, but nothing big seems to be sticking. The trips and changes in routine have been a little challenging to his workout routine, but he’s keeping with it and has been trying to do some running as well. Tim and Anthony had a fun time camping out, though there were some lessons learned on the tent arrangements. Tim enjoyed a couple days off with Natalie and Lydia. The landscaping work has also been a source of stress. Tim’s planning to have a couple of weeks of paid family leave time to bond with Natalie and visit with Mimi & Papa and the Doerings in March.
Please pray for us as we are trying to decide on a path forward for child care next year. We are considering home-schooling the kids and are weighing the pros and cons of that vs. having four kids in school / day care. We praise God that we’re all healthy and growing, and we are looking forward to what the next months hold.
