Hope Springs Eternal

Ah, and here we are again. Nearly a month later and I'm just now getting to this. 

Gideon is as full of energy as ever.  Aurelia loves to sit and watch him charge about singing. 

just a normal day...

With the slightly warmer weather I've been trying to get outside more. 

cocoa on the porch

dancing with his shadow

 Gideon loves books and loves to read. One of his favorite books is Green Eggs and Ham.  Nathan made Gideon some Green eggs and ham one morning.  We found out later that day that it was Dr. Seuss's birthday! It must have been meant to be.

very green...

I went to the Eureka Home Auction and bought Gideon a very big tractor. 

:)

He insisted on taking a nap with it. 

hehe strange kid

 If you hadn't noticed, my new obsession is macarons.  They are very finicky and hard to get just right.  I love a good challenge, so I've been trying different recipes. 

mocha macarons with chocolate buttercream :P

We had Bob and Jenny and my Parents over for supper.  

Nathan and Bob worked on their game. 

:)

And then poor Aurelia got sick. 

not a happy girl :(

 She kept spiking fevers, had a runny nose, watery eyes... the poor girl was miserable. 

dolly and a paci 

 I suspected an ear infection because she was nursing funny.  Sure enough, a doctor's visit confirmed and the poor girl went on an antibiotic. She got better pretty quickly after that. 

We got Gideon some fish.

He loves to watch them.

 We pulled out the jumperoo for Aurelia. 

She loves it. 

Gideon had to try it out of course. 

 My mom watched Aurelia one day. She pooped through her clothes so my mom pulled out this onesie:

It's just too perfect 

Another day on the porch:

:) 

 Little girlie wants food.  She cries any time we are eating and wants to be held. And then, she wants your food. 

Gideon got sick, again. He had a high fever that lasted only a day.  So, on Sunday Nathan went to church in the morning and I went in the afternoon. Gideon was pretty much better by then and needed to get out of the house, so we went out to eat. Kirk joined us. :) Gideon was having too much fun to eat anything. 

 Kirk is now topping the list of Gideon's favorites.


Our roof. Sigh.  It leaked last winter once, was fine all summer and fall, but then this winter every time it rained, it leaked.  It looked awful.  Thankfully, there were two very nice days the other week. Herb was able to come and tear off the shingles and re-shingle the roof.  It's rained a few times since and hasn't leaked!

our ugly ceiling. The next project. 

"Uncle Herb! Be careful! Don't fall!"

Other than work, the days have been pretty busy but uneventful. 

The animals marched two by two

fun with beans

she really really wanted that muffin

:) hehe someday they'll kill me

  

laundry... it takes three times as long these days.

My children don't sleep.  With Gideon being sick practically every other week and Aurelia filling in and how terribly Gideon sleeps in general, we've had some awful nights. 

One night Aurelia wouldn't go to sleep until 3:00 in the morning. Gideon woke up a couple times after 3 and then by 6:00am both kids ended up sleeping in bed with us. 

sigh. We might as well give them the bed. 

We went to Manna for Moms the next morning. Aurelia and Hutch had fun together. 

 Gideon was super clingy and didn't want to go play with the kids in the basement. He sat in my lap the whole time. 

Lena brought me coffee that afternoon (she won points ;) hehe) and Jack entertained Gideon. 

That night it became apparent that Gideon was sick, yet again.  He got a terrible cough and another fever off and on.   He was pretty sick all weekend again. So, Nathan went in the morning. My dad was also home sick, so the two sick ones stayed together, and I went to church in the afternoon.  I'm seriously hoping this sick-every-weekend trend ends soon. 

hehehe

Aurelia's dissatisfaction at meal times got worse. To the point that lunch time, dealing with both her and Gideon, was miserable. So, I caved and she got to have some food. 

banana

I'm still pretty picky about what she can and can't have, so don't go feeding her just anything. 

A warm day out marching in his boots. 

This kid.  He needs some serious interventions. He's scared of bugs and mud... I'm not sure how we will make it through summer. He will have to learn quick. 

bath time!

she is just the sweetest

This past Monday, I went out to the Braker's with the kids. 

They have puppies!

and lambs :)

Monday evening, we went out to Aroma (Indian) with Sydney and Amit and Zoya.  It had been a long time since I had had really good Indian food.  We had a great time :)

 We left Gideon at the farm and Aurelia slept the whole time, so it was a nice break. 

 Gideon still has his moments with Aurelia, but suddenly he LOVES her.  When she wakes up, he insists on getting her, he wants to hold her, carry her, play with her, squish her... It's all cute but he has no concept of how to be gentle. 

She doesn't seem to mind.

Tuesday we went to Sewing.  

Jack was there.

Great Grandma gave them a ride

It was warm again! I'm loving this trend. :)  

climbing 

coloring

To continue my new hobby/obsession and to celebrate National Macaron Day, I made another batch.

:)

 I've learned how to get a smoother top but I still struggle with the inside. I know I over mixed these because I forgot to add the coloring until too late. 

Wednesday, I went to Springfield for testing for work.  I have to be licensed by the State to license adoptive homes.  It was a long day. Mom and Donna watched the kids and brought them to Springfield for me so that I could feed Aurelia.  Even though she got to see me halfway through, she was still VERY happy to see me when we got home. 

she would not let go

 I thought the first test went ok and was a bit more worried about the second test. I found out that evening that I passed both. So, yay. 

Gideon got a new shirt:

Fits this kid to a T

These two. It makes my heart happy. 

Spring is officially here and good weather just around the corner.  After one of the worst weeks of sleep I think we've ever had, Gideon has now slept through the night 3 nights in a row! (His record is 5 nights in a row)  Either the good sleep, a breakthrough in his comprehension/discipline, exiting the terrible twos, or the spring weather, or all of the above, tonight I told Nathan that I finally felt like a normal parent.  They are both still stinkers but seriously, this week has felt like a cloud lifted.  I was able to work in the kitchen for half an hour with out interruption! He's been so sweet and helpful and obedient this week.  I know it won't last.  There are going to be more chilly rainy days until summer, more nights up with both kids,  and some really tough exhausting days with clingy needy children. But, it's these breaks that give hope and relief. There are good days coming, yes, but there are also good days now. 

In Christ
~Michelle