This year so far has come with a lot of stress. We certainly have each other and our health and I am extremely grateful for those things. My husband and I also both have jobs. But I'm still stressed. I'm stressed about all of the things and responsibilities that we have accumulated. And frankly, I'm just over it. Hubby and I have had lots of talks about how we can change things and I think we have come to a good consensus. Minimize.
Wait..... minimize with four kids? Yup! For so long I thought we needed a bigger house because we were outgrowing it. We were running out of space for our things. But in reality, we have more than enough space, its just not utilized to its potential. We have so much 'stuff' and that stuff takes up a lot of space. We also have a lot of wasted space in our house. For example, our master bedroom is ridiculously large. We don't need that much space and we don't use all of that space. In fact, we've actually talked about moving three of the kids into our room, having Mila use a room to herself, and us move into the other room. We also have a "game room" upstairs that is rarely used, except for the kids to throw 'stuff' out of the toy boxes onto the floor.
So, our plan is to minimize. This weekend I gathered 4 garbage bags worth of toys and clothing to take to Goodwill. I'm also putting things aside to sell. I already feel better about what has been decluttered.
We also plan to put our house back on the market. We are looking for a piece of land about 1-3 acres with a simple house. We'd like to raise our own animals and have a large garden to provide for most of our food intake. Smaller house means lower utility bills and less items to clutter the house. Our children also need to learn the value of hard work, honesty, and where our food comes from. Instead of the next "big thing" and keeping up with the Jones'. All it does is lead to stress. Simple is what we are working towards.
Things definitely aren't making us happy. I intend to do what I can to make our lives rich with memories, experiences, and the love of family and each other.
Monday, July 7, 2014
9 and 10 month updates
I can't believe that Miss Mila is already 10 months old. Frankly, I know I should be sad about this, but really I'm not. She is my last baby, but I am so excited to watch her grow and see what kind of person she becomes. I'm really not sad at all that in a few months she will be one.
I took Mila for her 9 month check-up. But really she was more like 9.5 months due to the doc's schedule being full until the end of the month. Here were her stats:
Height: 28 inches
Weight: 18lbs 3.8oz
She also got a couple of shots and will be returning later this month for two more. Mila is learning so many new things these days. I swear each day she can do something more. Mila's new tricks are signing 'more', saying uh-oh, pulling herself up on just about everything, and walking while holding your hands.
Mila has started to decrease her consumption of formula and increase the amount of table food. Lately she will barely take 4oz at a time, but she looooves table food. Mila eats pretty much what we do. For example, yesterday she ate cut up grapes, fresh apricots, peaches, chicken, mushroom risotto, green beans, cheese, and yogurt. I've found that she isn't a big fan of puréed veggies, but will eat the real thing just fine. I've also found the if I do buy some pouches, she is more likely to eat the veggies if it is mixed with a fruit as well.
Sleep has been better than the past, but Mila is still pretty inconsistent with the amount she will sleep at night. She will also wake and want a bottle 1-2 times per night. The doc has recommended that we use this month to wean Mila off the night bottles. I've decreased the night bottles from 6ounces to 4 ounces. My plan is to decrease them to 2-3 ounces during this week and then just water if she is still waking. However, last night she did better and only woke at 4am and took 4oz and then back to sleep. I'm really not a fan of going to bed with bottles, but when she wakes during the night, I've just been giving her the bottle and walking out. I don't want her to associate the night waking with play time. So I keep my time in there as brief as possible. I'm crossing my fingers that this works because she pretty much refuses to go back to sleep without a bottle once she wakes. I'm hoping she will just get full enough during the day and not need to wake at night.
We've also moved Mila out of our room. We did that probably about a month ago. We had to do a little bed switching for the children. We moved Mila's crib into the "girls" room but moved P into the single bed in that room. We then moved Avonlea into the "boy" room to sleep on the bottom bunk. There was just no way I could safely put Mila into a room with A. A would climb into that crib in a heartbeat and I couldn't sleep like that. So far, it has worked out nicely. Although A is the last one to sleep every.single.night. But that's an entirely different post all together.
Overall, Mila is really an awesome baby! Although her sleep has been a challenge during the nights, she is so happy when she is awake. She loves to play, talk, and just be in the action of it all. She adores her siblings and they love to tote her around.
I took Mila for her 9 month check-up. But really she was more like 9.5 months due to the doc's schedule being full until the end of the month. Here were her stats:
Height: 28 inches
Weight: 18lbs 3.8oz
She also got a couple of shots and will be returning later this month for two more. Mila is learning so many new things these days. I swear each day she can do something more. Mila's new tricks are signing 'more', saying uh-oh, pulling herself up on just about everything, and walking while holding your hands.
Mila has started to decrease her consumption of formula and increase the amount of table food. Lately she will barely take 4oz at a time, but she looooves table food. Mila eats pretty much what we do. For example, yesterday she ate cut up grapes, fresh apricots, peaches, chicken, mushroom risotto, green beans, cheese, and yogurt. I've found that she isn't a big fan of puréed veggies, but will eat the real thing just fine. I've also found the if I do buy some pouches, she is more likely to eat the veggies if it is mixed with a fruit as well.
Sleep has been better than the past, but Mila is still pretty inconsistent with the amount she will sleep at night. She will also wake and want a bottle 1-2 times per night. The doc has recommended that we use this month to wean Mila off the night bottles. I've decreased the night bottles from 6ounces to 4 ounces. My plan is to decrease them to 2-3 ounces during this week and then just water if she is still waking. However, last night she did better and only woke at 4am and took 4oz and then back to sleep. I'm really not a fan of going to bed with bottles, but when she wakes during the night, I've just been giving her the bottle and walking out. I don't want her to associate the night waking with play time. So I keep my time in there as brief as possible. I'm crossing my fingers that this works because she pretty much refuses to go back to sleep without a bottle once she wakes. I'm hoping she will just get full enough during the day and not need to wake at night.
We've also moved Mila out of our room. We did that probably about a month ago. We had to do a little bed switching for the children. We moved Mila's crib into the "girls" room but moved P into the single bed in that room. We then moved Avonlea into the "boy" room to sleep on the bottom bunk. There was just no way I could safely put Mila into a room with A. A would climb into that crib in a heartbeat and I couldn't sleep like that. So far, it has worked out nicely. Although A is the last one to sleep every.single.night. But that's an entirely different post all together.
Overall, Mila is really an awesome baby! Although her sleep has been a challenge during the nights, she is so happy when she is awake. She loves to play, talk, and just be in the action of it all. She adores her siblings and they love to tote her around.
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