Life Update: Kids, Church & Home

Grab a drink or a snack, this is going to be a long one.

Kids

Where to start...Joshua is a great toddler! He listens well, is starting to communicate a lot better and can entertain himself when I have to take care of Annabelle. Obviously some days he pushes the limits a little, but overall he is pretty easy to take care of. My precious Belle.... she is my mini me, haha! She is a lot more maintenance then Joshua was at this age. She is officially 3 months old as of yesterday and she is growing so fast! We started some sleep training but not a lot. Now that she is out of the newborn stage I am going to do more sleep training with her and start teaching her how to calm herself down. She cries A LOT more then Joshua did. That makes my life at home a lot more stressful. Joshua actually responds to the crying really well and usually tries to comfort her or entertain himself while I try to calm her down. He doesn't feed off of it and start whining at my feet because he wants to be held too. I LOVE that! I am still figuring Annabelle out and trying to learn her body language and cries so that I know what she wants. We call her Anibomb (My stepdad gave her the nickname). She will be completely content smiling at you then just burst into a really sad cry! So she's a little unpredictable at times which makes it hard to schedule things and feel at peace with leaving her at home with someone. I am still strictly breastfeeding her. However, she took the bottle (with formula in it... the same formula I gave Joshua when he stopped nursing) for the first time today. She wouldn't stop crying and I kept trying to nurse her but she kept coming off like she was frustrated. So I made up a bottle and she drank an ounce. That calmed her down immediately then she fell asleep really fast and has stayed asleep. So, I'm thinking that maybe she is more hungry then what I am producing. I know that I can nurse her more often to get in more milk, but I wanted to make a bottle to see if that was the issue. This last week has been the most stressful I have felt in the last few months since bringing Belle home. Joshua is teething and Annabelle is starting to change more into a baby and out of the newborn stage. I have been a little shut off from my family and husband because I am trying to figure out how to remain calm and maintain peace while being home all day with 2 kids that are more whiny and needy then usual. If I don't take time to find peace then I will completely lose my mind and that won't be good. I'm hoping and praying Annabelle and I can figure things out and I can find ways to make her more content. She doesn't have any medical issues and is not colicky or anything. She just simply wants to be held all of the time and rocked to sleep and remain on my chest while she sleeps. So, I think she is just frustrated that I am teaching her to be a little more independent. I did the same thing with Joshua and it took a week or 2 to adjust. I know we will get it down... it's just super stressful in the mean time. I find myself crying or wanting to cry most days :(

Church

We finally found a church! We have gone a few times and LOVE IT so far! It is called Praise Church and it's only 5 min from the house so that makes it super easy with the kids! Our first visit there everyone welcomed us and made us feel so at home. Joshua couldn't get out of my arms fast enough to go play in his classroom! Every church we went to when I picked Joshua up he had been crying for a while. This church... he didn't cry once! As a mom, that is a really good sign. The second visit the pastor came up to us and introduced himself. I love that! We are starting small groups with them to see how that goes. I'm hoping we can stay at this church for a while. Church shopping is no fun. I am looking forward to having fellowship again and to get connected.

Home

Since Patrick started his EMT course, it has been a lot more work for me! He wakes up early (4:30am) goes to work, comes home does homework, study and if I really need help with the kids, he will do that then finish his homework once the kids are in bed. He has been really tired and exhausted and so have I. We don't have much time together nor do we have the money to go on dates :( He leaves in couple days to go to Boston to take his test for his EMT certification. He will be gone for a whole week! That makes me so anxious just thinking about it but I will have my parents and brother around to help me. Once Patrick has his EMT certification he is hoping to get hired on as a firefighter. We are still not sure what medic school will look like. If he can't get hired on as an EMT, then most likely he will start medic school in January going 3 days a week on top of working full time. That program is a year long. So not looking forward to that with 2 little ones! But, if he gets hired on as an EMT (which is a common thing out here in CO) then he will stay with that department and see what the next best step would be. Either remaining an EMT or having the fire department send him to medic school. Either way, he is excited to start his career and making enough money so we can move out. We figured out a system as a family to make things flow better during the week. I am so grateful to have the support I have and to have my mom to help me with grocery shopping and meal planning/prepping.

We are still so financially stressed! We got all of our medical bills from having Annabelle. I am SO THANKFUL for insurance but, we still have to pay a couple thousand for everything. So, even when Patrick gets hired on, it will be another 4-6 months before we will have enough money to move out. We have never been without an emergency fund and so low on money until now. I know God will bring us through it. We have a roof over our head, food in our belly and clothes on our back. For that, I am grateful. I am trying to spend more time with God so that I can be more focused on him then everything going on around me. Thats really hard to do when you are constantly "on" with 2 kids.

I am so sorry to all my blog followers that I haven't been blogging as much. I am trying to prioritize my time so that my kids are well taken care of and my marriage can stay strong. Also, trying to find quiet time for myself to refocus and recenter. I am hoping that as Annabelle has more of a schedule I can plan my days better. Also, having time for me to socialize with my new friends is very important for me! I am a social butterfly and having that time keeps me energized. This journey has been nothing but sweat and tears. I am looking forward to when I hit the spot that I can just sit back and relax for a little.

Thank you for continuing to encourage and support me through this journey of being a new mom, a wife and a daughter of Christ.