the crisp connection

 Hannah and her friend Mia, one of our babysitting kids. This was awhile ago.

 We used to sit out on the porch in the mornings, before it got too hot. We would have story time on the swing. Nobody was able to sit on my lap well before, and they usually still cant now because I wear Caroline alot. But when it cools off (probably november!), we'll get out on the porch again.

 one day, after leftover spaghetti, this seemed like the easiet option. he seemed pretty keen on doing it himself.

 charlie absolutely loves hannahs old cowboy boots. wears them around the house all the time.

 this was Fourth of July. I needed a distraction, so we went into the city. A really nice outdoor shopping area has this big pond, with a fountain and ducks and all that. The kids like going there. There's also a marble slab right there :-). And a barnes and noble. which, that experience is just not the same with kids. how it used to be possible to sit and read a magazine, or browse. not so much anymore. the other day, i drove to wichita to pick up the kids (who had been with david and des). we went into a barnes and noble to feed the baby, and i thought the kids could play at the train table. there was no train table. they stayed to help me, but she wasnt interested then. of course, when she was interested, we were alone. i dont mind nursing in public. but when you're trying to keep the baby under the nursing cover while chasing around 2 others, it gets more complicated. and charlie can only be so patient. sometimes it takes her 45 min to eat. i cant expect him to sit still that long. i guess its  a good thing we rarely go anywhere!

 on the way home that day, we stopped at texas roadhouse. charlie absolutely loved the peanuts. (you get buckets of peanuts, then crack them and throw the shells on the floor.) patrick and i could hardly keep up with how fast he was eating them. even tried to eat the shells.

 Hannah likes to read books to charlie. he's very patient, too.

 hard to believe he isn't my baby anymore. :-(

 my real baby is much much smaller. and lighter. sometimes i still almost throw her when i pick her up, she seems so light!

 we had our first outing with my mom, when she was about a week old. as usual, i've been in no rush to get out more than is necessary. at this stage they take so long to eat, and eat so often, there's a small window of opportunity in between. that, and the heat, and the fact that there really isn't anywhere to go here, has kept us home. but that's ok, we're starting to babysit in 2 wks, so we wont get too bored.

Caroline is doing really really well. I am very grateful. At first i was kind of worried because she would not be put down. even if she was really asleep, she'd wake up when i put her down. but then i started laying her on her stomach on the bed, instead of the bouncy seat or something. and what do you know, she sleeps till i wake her up. (yes, i wake her up. I dont want her to go longer than 3 hrs without eating. Or even 2.)  my philosophy is the more she eats during the day, hopefully the less she'll wake up at night. and thats going well too. she has a fussy time in the evening, then goes to bed around when i do, 10.30 or 11. often she'll only wake up once, at 3 or 4. sometimes takes a while to get her back to sleep, but then she'll sleep till the other kids wake up at 7. Its a good schedule for now, and during the day i never put her down in her bed upstairs, she just sleeps where we are. the more noise the better.

there is no way to encapsulate the last 3 wks. it has been, obviously, a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences. super highs, and yes, super lows! It is very different with your 3rd i think, and subsequent ones i would imagine. i love her so much, but i feel like i'm not paying enough attention to anyone. i guess having a family means all paying attention to each other, so i shouldnt feel like its all dependent on me. but i do. (just noticing my keyboard is really sticky. too much multitasking, perhaps? should never eat grapes while working on computer)

so patricks job is going well, keeping him busy. he works for a hay broker in a nearby town, so his commute is about 40 min. thats the biggest downside to the job. also he's supposed to be there by 7. I never knew there was such a thing as a hay broker, you might be thinking. well, you dont live in kansas :-). Somebody has to get the hay from the farmer growing it to the rancher who needs it for his cows. Patrick does the transportation logistics, and other more hands on things at the farm itself. he gets to drive a tractor sometimes :-). and, he got to fly the other day! hopefully more of that soon.

in the midst of me doing the 3 kids by myself and patrick working 13 hr days, our air conditioner started leaking, and flooding part of our basement. unfortunately we didn't know right away, it was in a sort of closed off area. where i had stashed boxes and boxes of baby clothes. we got home after an extremely long day in wichita (my first time out with all 3, the same day i talked about earlier. we also did sams club that day. thanks to david and des, who got me a membership for my birthday. yeah!). Then spent the evening attempting to fix the air conditioner (patrick) and sorting through boxes of molding clothes and washing what was salvageable (me.) That verse about not storing up treasures where moths corrupts and thieves steal? God should have added mold. and He does have a point, I decided. Anyways, at least it still works. We just kept a bucket under it until he could fix it for real. Which he did. because he's super cool like that. rarely do we pay somebody to fix anything. we do have to pull up and replace the floor, but we were planning on doing that anyways. just not exactly now.

so we (I) have had some rough days. It helped so much to have my mom here for awhile, and then for the crisps to take the kids. but i think we'll be ok :-). I cleaned a bathroom yesterday. and dusted and washed windows and everything, actually. made me feel a little better. one thing i haven't done in 3 wks is make supper. but apparently my free ride is over, because tonight i'm making supper.