What Did We Do?

We had a wonderful time in California. The weather was amazing, so warm and even hot some days. I got a tan in November, crazy! The kids travelled really well. They are so excited to fly and were easily entertained during the flights. The baby slept the whole trip it seems. Every time we leave the house, she sleeps the whole time. She loves her carseat and passes out any time she is in it. Bennett and Rachel had colds most of the trip, but they were troopers and had so much fun. So, what did we do?


We visited a dear friend, Maria (Ria to Bennett). I worked with Maria at Lifeline Crisis Pregnancy Center, and she is now the director of that center and Choices Pregnancy Center in San Luis Obispo. I love her and miss her so much!


We visited the Schaefers. Elizabeth is two weeks older than Bennett, and they had such a great time with each other. Our visit was way too short, but we hope to see them again soon if they pass through Washington.


They just built an amazing new house. Erich is a contractor and built it himself!


This is their beautiful 360 degree view! It was breathtaking!


Pop and Popgrandma took the older two to the Morro Bay Natural History Museum (I think that is what it is called?) and to Avila Valley Barn while Jeromy and I spent some time in San Luis Obispo together. We ate at our favorite Thai Restaurant (YUM!) and did a little shopping. I even splurged on the world's best cinnamon roll at The House of Bread!


Jeromy's best friend, Arthur, came to see us after he and Jeromy spent the day together. He has a bad knee/ankle so walks with a cane, and Bennett loves playing with his cane. He did get it confiscated though!


We met Kristen and her boys at the Atascadero Zoo. It was so good to visit amidst our 5 little ones ages 4 and under. Between Rachel falling down a dirt hill and skinning her knee, crying and whining, we did get to catch up a little! Miss you Kristen!


They loved the zoo!


This is what Ellie did everywhere we went. ZZZZZZZZZ

We also visited our dear friends, the Coles, and went to the beach a couple of times with the kids. I can't seems to find those pictures right now, so I will post another blog later with Thanksgiving pics too. It is nice to be home and I might even catch up in the next two weeks! Laundry, argh!!

Home Sweet Home

Ahhhhh, my own bed!

California

We are off to CA in the morning! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! This is where we will be!

6 1/2 Weeks

Our sweet little baby is so much fun. She is so happy and starting to coo and make noises. She is becoming aware of her surroundings and knows when she is away from home and mama isn't the one who is holding her, unfortunately for the family members we are going to be visiting. A couple of weeks ago she didn't care who was holding her, but she sure does now.





We are leaving for San Luis Obispo this week for our yearly visit to our old town and Jeromy's parents. We will be there for Thanksgiving and are really looking forward to seeing all of the family that comes into town that we only get to see once a year. Any of you central coast people that would like to see us while we are in town, let us know. Here is a list of things we want to do while we are there. (Don't be surprised that most of it has to do with eating!!)

-The Beach!!!
-Atascadero Zoo
-Avila Valley Barn
-Farmer's Market
-In-N-Out at least a couple of times!
-Firestones
-Thai Palace for Pad Makeur (Our first year here, Jeromy had his parents freeze an order of it and overnight it to us in WA. It was sweet of him, but it didn't taste quite right!)
-Taco Roco for chicken tacos (They fry the meat with the tortillas and are the best we have ever had because ordinarily chicken tacos can be rather bland and lackluster.)
-Most importantly visit family and friends we don't get to see often enough!

HELP!

I need YOUR advice on which boots you like the best, 1, 2, or 3. They are pretty similar and all cost about the same, so I need help.

My Little Helpers

It is pretty amazing how much a 4 year old can help with a new baby, and really just help in general. Bennett is such a wonderful helper and is always eager to do whatever I need him to do. He runs up and down the stairs to put things away and bring things up that I need. He loves getting the laundry when it is done and bringing it upstairs. I wish we had a front loader washer like my parents have because when we lived with them, he could put the wet laundry in the dryer, start it, and get it out when it was done. He wasn't even 3 yet either! Now his helping is so wonderful with Ellie. He is so helpful when I am trying to get dinner or lunch ready. He will bounce her in the bouncy chair, make sure she has her binky, and will talk to her sweetly. He also loves holding her on the couch and even shares his blanket with her which is very special to him. I can see how having more children gets easier as your children get older. They are able to contribute to the family and hold more responsibility. Bennett loves being "responsible" for things too. He is 4 going on 30! We'll try to keep him a little boy for a little longer, but he can't wait to be 16 so he can drive. He talks about it all the time!

Fall

Get a load of our backyard. The leaves are getting so deep that I am afraid that I am going to lose Bennett and Rachel out there. I don't know if Jeromy has a plan for them, but they are definitely getting out of control! The trees are sure nice in the summer for the shade, but wow, they drop ALOT of leaves!

Random Stuff

Nothing hugely exciting going on here. Just normal day to day stuff. The most fun new thing is Ellie smiling now. She has been smiling a little for a week or two which seemed really early to me, but she is really smiling now. She is starting to get chubby and is just so cute! She looks alot like Bennett as a baby still except for the dark hair. My mom thinks it is starting to thin out a bit. I hope she doesn't lose it all like my other kids. She is such an easy baby and with the aid of the binky, she never cries or fusses! It is actually kind of weird because I am used to some crying and evening fussies.

I had an eye exam on Saturday and got a new prescription. I usually know when I need a stronger prescription, and I didn't think that I needed one this time, but I was wrong. It just got a little stronger, but what a difference it made with my new contacts. Everything was so clear. I always have the hardest time finding glasses frames that look good on me and this time was no different. The rectangular style that is so popular right now doesn't look good on me, but that is almost all that they make. I don't know if I just have a strange shaped face, but the only frames that are flattering on me are the weirdest shaped ones. I mean really strangely shaped. Like there is no name for the shape, not square, rectangular, round, oval, just a strangely bent pentagon or hexagon, I can't remember. I wanted pink glasses, but had to settle for red. I wanted something fun this time, and I am pretty happy with them. I will post a picture when I get them next week.

My lower back started hurting me pretty badly last Thursday and hasn't gotten better on its own, so I went to the chiropractor today. I am really hoping that does the trick because I have had a hard time picking up even Ellie without shooting pain. I love to be cracked. I know some people really don't like it, but I love it. I used to crack it all the time myself, but broke the habit when I went to the chiropractor in college and didn't want to waste the 40 bucks I spent to get it back in alignment.

I can't believe how much more laundry a family of 5 makes than a family of 4. It is staggering! Maybe doing laundry downstairs and having to bring it upstairs is why my back hurts? How do large families stay on top of it all?! Brianna, you must be up to your eyeballs in little clothes!

I have lost my mind since having Ellie. I have a severe case of mommy brain. I had it in my mind that we needed to get the kids to bed an hour early on Saturday night to get them on the new daylight savings time instead of an hour later. We kept them up all day with no naps and put them to bed early only to realize that they went to bed at 6:30 on the new time instead of 8:30 like I was thinking. Duh! They have adjusted fine despite my interference. I told Jeromy not to trust anything I tell him these days!

4 Weeks Old

Our little baby is growing up already. They grow and change so fast. I am trying to enjoy every day because I know this time is short and precious. Usually I am wanting my baby to get older so that he or she will sleep through the night, but she already has that one down. She has been sleeping from 10-5:30 pretty regularly. I am so lucky, I know! Unfortunately I haven't been getting any sleep after that due to a neighbor running a pallet refurbishing business out of her driveway and has started banging at 6:30 am. Insane!

Ellie is getting so alert. She opens her eyes really wide and looks at everything around her. She always turns her head to see who is talking to her. She loves looking at her brother and sister who are usually right in her face trying to get her attention. Even at 2 weeks old when the bath picture was taken, you can see her looking at us intently.



All cuddled up and ready to go. She loves the car, thankfully, especially when she has her binky. She really only uses it in the car and sometimes during the day when she is fussy and tired. It makes her fall right to sleep and then falls out of her mouth. She isn't so happy about the hat, mostly because it falls down over her eyes when she is in the car. She starts crying hysterically, and I know that it is over her face. Poor thing!

Old Country Mercantile

We had a fun outing with the whole family this morning to the local pumpkin patch. It was complete with petting zoo, corn maze, hay ride, pumpkin picking, hay bale maze and horse ride. Ellie slept in her car seat the whole time, so I sat with her at a table and watched the fun from the sidelines. It was really cold out today, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day.


Hay Bale Maze


Pumpkin Patch


Hay Ride (Notice the little pumpkin that Rachel picked. She carried it around all night with her. It is green and looks like a green bell pepper.)


Second go around at the hay maze. They had so much fun playing on the mountain of hay!


Bennett being a good big brother.


King and Queen of the Mountain!


Aren't they just adorable?


We opted for the 25 cent horsy ride instead of the $5 a child horsy rides they were offering there. Call us cheap but the kids had just as much fun!

It was a fun outing and the kids had a fun time watching dad carve the pumpkin. Bennett is equally as excited for me to roast the seeds. I don't know what we are going to do with the funny little green ones. Rachel won't let me put them on the table for a decoration. She thinks they are for carrying around. Bennett keeps picking up the carved one and showing it to me and the baby. They are so funny.

No New Posts

No new posts this week because my dumb internet hasn't been working all week. I feel so lost and helpless without internet access. It is pretty sad. I had to actually mail a check this week instead of using my online banking... how archaic! I have hardly been out of the house in weeks and I had 2 fun things to do this week already. I had a baby shower of a friend to go to on Monday night. Ellie slept the whole time we were there. I was scared she wouldn't sleep at all that night, but she still slept her normal amount. Tuesday night I had a mommy get together with some friends and Ellie didn't sleep very much, but she was pretty good thanks to the binky. Ellie is consistently sleeping for a 6 hour stretch and then for 4 or 5 hours after that. It is so great. She is such a sweet baby. I could just eat her with a spoon! I am loving my new baby and am so happy that child number 3 isn't as traumatic as I had heard it would be. Things definitely get a bit hairy now and then, mostly when Ellie is screaming, Rachel has peed all over the floor, and Bennett is asking me 1000 questions. I kind of lose it at that point. I need a mommy time out. Thankfully things are usually much calmer, and we are all enjoying one another and watching the baby grow and change. That's my update for the week. I will take some pictures soon!

Connected Siblings

It the hope of Jeromy and I that we can foster a strong bond of love and friendship between our children. We talk to Bennett about protecting his sisters and taking care of them. We are trying to teach them to have responsibility for one another. This is one of the reasons we plan on homeschooling our kids. If they are away from the home all day and building into the lives of their friends and peers, it will be alot harder to keep them connected to one another when they are home. Learning alongside one another and the mere proximity they will be in with one another will foster playing together and help them to learn how to deal with conflict and how to have a relationship with those older and younger than themselves. It is one of the problems that I see in modern day culture, how fractured we are from one another. Everyone is split up into age groups, even in churches today, singles, marrieds, young marrieds, retired, college, high school, junior high, the list is endless. It is not how real life works though. How often are we around only people in our own age group and place in life? That is not how it is in the workplace or in families. We are at a disadvantage if we choose to be isolated with only people like ourselves. Isn't it a better skill to have to be able to deal with those above and below us in life? There is so much to be learned from those who are older and more mature spiritually and emotionally. We are working to teach these things to our children and hopefully in the process our children will have a vision for this multigenerational way of life.

Ellie's First Bath

Ellie thoroughly enjoyed her first bathing experience. She had a look of shock on her little face when I put her into the water, but she quickly relaxed into the warm bath water. She didn't cry at all. I was so surprised. I had told the kids that she would most likely scream and not really enjoy the bath, but boy, was I wrong. Since the bath she has little red bumps on her cheeks though, so I don't know if it was the soap or the lotion. Another one of us with sensitive skin!

Binky

I broke down and did it. I bought Ellie a binky. I am torn about the decision, but I guess I can always change my mind. Neither of my other kids would ever take a pacifier or a bottle, but I never seriously tried to get them to. Rachel is a thumb sucker and Ellie was showing the signs of becoming one. She is always sucking on her hands, so I thought I would see if she would even take a pacifier. I have heard that it is alot easier to take away a pacifier than a thumb. I went shopping at Walmart by myself for the first time today with all 3 kids (they did great btw) so I bought a binky 2-pack. After I sterilized them I popped one in her mouth and she went to town immediately. She sucked herself right to sleep. I am going to try to just use them for the "I am fussy and tired and want to nurse even though I just nursed and am not hungry but I think I am and it is the only way I am going to go to sleep for you" times. I just hate not being able to see her cute little face behind that huge plastic thing. I know that this doesn't seem like a big deal, but I have always been opposed to pacifiers (I know as a parent to never say never) so this is a changing of mind that I have to come to grips with. So for now I have a quiet house of sleeping children and if it took a plastic prop to do it, I guess I should be thankful for technology.

On another note, I was watching a news program about mommy bloggers and how blogging has become the new "talking over the fence." I think that it is true for the most part. There is a mother of 6 who wrote a hilarious ebay item description here of some Pokeman cards her children had somehow snuck past her at the store. I read it on ebay and cracked up. Well, I guess she gained some fame from that because she has a blog that gets so many hits, she now makes $4000 a month in advertising. How crazy is that?! I didn't even know that blogging was a potentially money making activity. Now if I could just get blog READING to make me money I would be on to something.

Appreciating the Blessing of our Children

I found this blog linked from another blog and I literally wept as I read through some of it. They recently lost their newborn little daughter from a genetic defect 8 days after she was born. If you are at all in need of a reality check of how blessed you are to have healthy little ones, read this blog. I have a new perspective of how I should be more appreciative of what God has given me. I have hugged all 3 of my babies a little tighter today.

The Farley's Blog

Goings On

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but our internet has not been working reliably for the last several days.... ARGH! We are doing well. The older two kids have had colds that they are recovering from. I am tired of blowing noses, but I know that is what I will be doing for the next 3-4 months. They have been enjoying the nice weather we have had for the last few days. It has been in the seventies and I know that they were probably the last nice days we will have until spring. So sad! Popgrandma sent the kids some costumes that they have had a blast wearing. We don't do Halloween, but enjoy collecting costumes for dress-up year around. We now have a cute little cowboy and cowgirl. I told Rachel that cowgirls say, "Yee Haw," and she now says, "Hee Haw," and even calls the costume her "heehaw." It is pretty cute.



We have been spending lots of time with my parents these last weeks and they are enjoying their new grandbaby. We went over their house after church yesterday and left all the kids with them while we went shopping. I nursed the baby before we left and she slept the whole time we were gone. It was nice to get out for a while but shopping for clothes 2 weeks after having a baby is not recommended.... pretty depressing!


Ellie is still sleeping alot. Some days it seems like she sleeps all day and all night. Other days she is awake alot but really tired and needs to be sleeping. I can't remember how long the sleeping all the time lasts before they go to regular 3 naps during the day. She has been sleeping for 4-6 hours for the first stretch during the night. Last night I had to wake her up after 6 hours to nurse because I figured I shouldn't go longer than that between feedings to keep my milk supply up. She went back to sleep with me for another 3 hours. I have been getting pretty good sleep, more than I remember getting with my other kids. Unfortunately my allergies have been really bad so I feel tired and wiped out no matter how much sleep I get. Sage brush is in bloom here and it seems to affect darn near everyone I talk to. I don't know how long it is in bloom for, but it seems like it has already been a month and it is all still yellow.




I feel like I am getting back into a bit of a routine and normal life. I even planned meals for the week. We'll see how that goes. I sure appreciated meals brought from our church after we had Ellie. It is hard to get back into planning and shopping and cooking. I will probably start fixing most of dinners while Ellie has her long nap (I guess I shouldn't be blogging but cooking because she is sleeping right now!) My husband has to deal with seeing me still in my pajamas when he gets home with my hair in a ponytail and my glasses on. I have yet gotten back into the routine of "getting ready" in the morning. I at least manage to brush my teeth because I can do that while holding the baby! Small steps I guess. I have stayed on top of laundry, but cleaning the house might take some serious discipline. It is weird how having a new baby throws life out of balance for a while. I am looking forward to getting back into a routine and I am sure my kids are too.

She's Changing So Fast

Ellie is starting to have more regular awake time every day.




Bennett likes to try and calm Ellie when she is crying.


Rachel likes to help bounce Ellie too.


Bennett is ever trying to be in control, especially of his little sister.

New Babies

It is so amazing having a new baby. How you can fall in love with someone so little who can't talk or respond and you have never even met before is pretty remarkable. Ellie is starting to get used to life outside the womb. It is such a crazy thought that she used to live inside my body and then one day had to start getting used to life outside of it. She has been struggling with falling asleep. She gets really tired and all worked up about it and thinks that she needs to continually nurse to help her sleep. After I nursed her on each side twice she still wouldn't fall asleep at 9 last night and she had been awake since 4 in the afternoon. She was acting so hungry, but I knew she was exhausted so I put her in her crib to see if she would tire herself out crying. After about a half hour of crying, she quieted down and slept for 6 hours! I got up to check on her because it had been so long and I was worried. She was still asleep so I woke her up to feed her. I hate listening to her cry, but it was the only way she would go to sleep and I am so glad I did. I am not so naive to think that this means that she will start sleeping every night, but I am willing to take the one night of success and be happy.

Bennett and Rachel are doing well. Rachel is probably 80% potty trained. She hasn't had an accident in 3 days and is even pooping in the toilet which is a big accomplishment! She caught on so fast and I am so proud of her. There is no way we would have been able to try potty training with a new baby in the house if she wasn't ready. Bennett even told me that he helped her use her potty chair this morning before I was up and even wiped her and gave her a jelly belly. I'll tell you, sometimes I think that boy could live in his own apartment and be fine. He is so independent and self-sufficient and only 4!

I took Ellie to the Dr. today just to use the scale to make sure she is gaining weight now and she was 8 pounds 4 ounces. She is gaining weight, but not as fast as I was hoping. I have been more worried about Ellie getting enough milk than I have ever been with my other kids. She just wants to nurse so often I worry that she is hungry because I don't have enough milk or something. I know that nursing too often doesn't allow your body the time to replenish the supply, so I have been contemplating the binky to appease Ellie's wanting to suck in between feedings. It just seems crazy to need to feed her more often than every 2 hours. I really don't want another thumb sucker either. Rachel's orthodontia bills will be high enough on their own.

We have been awful about taking pictures, so I don't have anything new to post. Be patient with us! Yesterday was my first day on my own, so we are in coping mode. Thankfully our church has been bringing us meals, so at least we have been eating! What a blessing food is! I am sure glad I put some food in the freezer before Ellie came.

Hopefully I will post some pictures soon!

New Pictures

Little Ellie is still doing well. We had a Dr's appointment on Wednesday and she has lost a little weight but is nursing well and will put it back on quickly. Having child number three has been weird. You would think that we would have the whole baby thing down by now, but to be honest I can't remember what we did with Rachel that worked so well so that we can repeat it. When Rachel was born, we knew exactly what we were and were not going to do with her from the mistakes we made with Bennett. I can't for the life of me remember when we started having her sleep on her own and let her cry. I feel like I am doing this for the first time again. It isn't like I have that much time between kids either, but two years is a long time to remember the details I guess. I think we are just going to have to find our way again and refigure things out. I do know that I am not going to be able to sit on the couch holding Ellie while she sleeps all day long for very much longer. It is a time to enjoy now before real life kicks back in. We are also potty training Rachel right now as crazy as that sounds, but she is doing so well with it we don't want to stop and let her forget. My mom started the training while she had the kids for the first few days after we had Ellie. We have instituted the bribery method. Go pee and you get a jelly belly. One night she wanted one so bad she sat on the potty chair for an hour. I remember with Bennett that we had to stop the "incentives" at some point when he wanted to try to go 50 times a day. All in all we are settling into life again and enjoying our new baby.

We Are Still Here

Just a quick post to let you all know that we are still alive and well. Ellie had a pretty rough first couple of nights home. No sleep to be had. The first day she was awake all day and night, she just wasn't tired I guess. The second day she slept all day and was up until 5 am and then slept half the day. Last night I was afraid we would have a repeat because she had slept so much during the day, but she slept really well. I nursed her in bed and she went right back to sleep each time. Ahhh, sleep is such a great thing! She is nursing really well and although it is really painful for me I know that it is only rough the first couple of weeks. We have a Dr. appointment for her tomorrow morning so I am always anxious to know how much weight my babies have gained. Mine don't ever lose weight, they just gain large amounts right away. It is pretty funny to see the Dr's reactions to the number. Wow, they are sure good eaters aren't they? I need to take some new pictures and will post them soon. Gotta go, baby's crying.