I feel good, Na na na na na na. Like I knew that I would now.

While I am still dealing with sleep issues, just like any mom of a new baby, I am so happy to report that I feel good. I haven't been blogging much because I have been both busy and occupied. And no, they aren't the same thing.

Feeling "good" may not sound like much to many of you, but it means so much to me. In fact it has a double meaning for me. First, I am NOT PREGNANT anymore. I knew I felt crummy there at the end of the pregnancy; but until she was a few weeks old and I started to feel really good, I didn't realize how bad I had felt. I tell you that there has been a huge difference - at least for me - in the pregnancies I had in my 20's and the two I have had in my 30's.

So with my new found energy and good feelings, I have been tackling many projects around the house that have been sadly neglected over the past year. Memorial Day Weekend we shaped up the front yard and porch. We still have a little bit to do - like getting some sod down in an area that used to be a rock bed - but it looks much better. Like people live here who care. I've also been painting. I have painted two bedrooms upstairs in the last week, with help from my oldest two girls. We have ordered bunk beds for our 7 and 5 year olds, and will be moving them into a different bedroom. I wanted the rooms painted before the beds arrived and the bedroom switch occurred.

Most importantly, however, I am feeling good post partum. As many of you who know me well are aware, I had some major problems after the births of my 5 and 3 year olds. I am extremely happy to report that with Ashlynn nearly 7 weeks old, I am showing NO SIGNS of similar problems this time. And I am thanking the Lord every day for it. He has sent many things and people my way that have made it possible this time, and it is such a blessing that I am not taking for granted. I am also past the early nursing stage when I have so many problems, so I am to the point I can really enjoy the baby.

Especially when she sleeps from 9:30 pm to 6 am like she did last night!!! First time!

So I have been busy around the house and with my family, and I have been occupied nursing, rocking and holding my baby. And since I have never gotten the hang of typing one handed, it has cut down on my blogging time. But since I am being able to really enjoy that baby time like I haven't been able to the last two times, I haven't minded too much.

But if she keeps sleeping like this, maybe I can get back to things I enjoy, like blogging. And running off baby weight. And weaning myself off Dr. Pepper. Oh wait, I think that falls into the necessary evil category...

In Defiance of the Space-Time Continuum...

Ashlynn is six weeks old!
None of us can believe it, but she was six weeks old on Saturday. Now I know for sure that the last six weeks of my pregnancy did not go by this quickly. Either pregnancy slows down the passage of time, or childbirth causes it to speed up. (Of course pregnancy itself disproves the theory that two people cannot inhabit the same place at the same time. Can you tell Kelly and I are Star Trek geeks?)

Ashlynn's newest trick is a very pretty smile, which she loves to show off to her mommy and daddy.
And of course, big sissy Lauryn has to get in the action as well.

Scouts Awards Ceremony

Last Monday, the scouting group our family is involved in hosted the end of year awards ceremony. The older girls received the badges that go on their vests that they have earned since the last awards ceremony in February. Hailey's group earns beads for a necklace, so she earned the last of her beads to complete the necklace. It is also the ceremony when girls are promoted up to the next group if they are old enough, Hailey was in the kindergarten group this year and she promoted up to the 1st -3rd grade group. Aubrey promoted up to the 4th-6th grade group.
This is Hailey receiving her necklace from her teacher, who looks strangely familiar.
Brynna is singing a song as part of her group's skit. They were demonstrating the things they worked on this year - this song was about the American flag.
Aubrey is sporting the fishing pole she helped make as part of that same skit.
Here Aubrey's putting up her pole and Brynna is demonstrating the etiquette they learned (too bad it hasn't translated to use at home).
If you look closely you can see Brynna coming forward to receive her badges.
This is Aubrey receiving her badges. I have alot of sewing to do.
This is Kora receiving hers. I promise that really is here, I had a bad angle.
The scouts don't call it "promoting" they call it "bridging." We actually have a little wooden bridge on the stage that the girls walk across and join their new group. They also trade in their old vest for the new one (each level group has a slightly different uniform). Before the actually walking across the bridge, Aubrey had a speaking part - a short biography of Sacajawea.
Here Hailey has just walked across the bridge and is being helped putting on her new red vest. She is now in the same group - called the Tenderfoot group - as Brynna.
Aubrey's turn across the bridge.
Her vest is no longer red, she has a blue one like Kora, the second from the left.
Then she goes down the group shaking everyone's hand.
It was a late night, but the girls had a blast. They worked hard this year and really enjoy scouts. It also gives them many opportunities to learn things they wouldn't normally at home. It also lets them do group activities, have friends their age, and get up in front of people. They are already looking forward to scouts starting back up in September!

In-laws

I posted that last weekend my in-laws and parents were in town to attend Kora's piano recital. What I didn't mention was that they both stayed with us. When I told a few people about this beforehand, they expressed surprise. But Kelly and I are extremely blessed to have in-laws who get along very well.

Kelly and I met and started seeing each other our junior year of high school when we lived just a few blocks from each other. We were a steady couple from that point forward, so our parents naturally ran into each other quite a bit. Once we got married and moved out of town, they would get together every once in a while and have dinner together.

My mother even helped my mother in-law organize and decorate my brother-in-law's wedding. (Because his wife immigrated to America to marry him, she didn't have parents around to do that, so my in-laws paid for and organized it.) Since then, my in-laws have moved out of the town we grew up in so they don't see each other as much. But we are very blessed to have been placed in the family God put us in.

Thanks for a great weekend, moms and dads! Too bad I didn't get a picture!

Know what I hate?

Know what's worse than having pimples as a teenager?

YOUR BABY having pimples.

I hate baby acne. That perfect, beautiful skin is just marred by it when all my babies reach a month old. I know it's hormones from me, but I wonder if it's leftover from birth, or is coming through the breastmilk?

Now you can attend Kora's first recital...

Big thanks to my brother-in-law, Tony, for recording this and posting to YouTube!

Kora's First Piano Recital

This weekend, my parents and my in-laws stayed with us to attend Kora's first piano recital. I taught Kora for about a year and a half. Then last fall she started taking from a wonderful woman from a musical conservatory at a local church. She has really blossomed under Penny's tutelage.
We were out of town for the Christmas recital, so Sunday night was Kora's first recital. The conservatory divides all the students into four recitals - two beginner, an intermediate, and one for advanced students. Kora was in the intermediate recital and her teacher says she'll be in the advanced one next year, which is formal. So next year we will be dress shopping for the spring recital!
She performed Pachelbel's Canon in D. She did a fantastic job, making all the adults in attendance cry. That song was played in our wedding, so it was particularly meaningful. We are very proud of all her hard work!