I'm okay!

So life is moving pretty fast around here, but I'm okay! We have a new tiny member of the family that will probably be living here for some time. It's a boy and he is sweet and adorable and best of all, easy. I'm loving having a newborn around and enjoying all the baby stuff too. It is easier because he was very premature so he is already scheduled from the NICU and very mellow.
The kids are so happy to have a baby "brother" and we have all settled into a good rhythm now. We've had him four weeks and he is officially three months old and full term as of the 13th. My absolutely fabulous husband has made my life so happy by helping out with nighttime feedings. He is taking the 12am and 6am feedings, I do the 3am and get to sleep in until about 7:30am. Not too shabby! I actually feel totally normal and surprisingly fresh even with getting up once in the middle of the night. God is so good! It's baby bliss around here!

I'm also officially a home school mom now. Our first week was two weeks ago and it was bittersweet. I have to admit I had a hard time watching all my friends post pictures of the first day of school and seeing their kids in adorable outfits with backpacks and huge smiles, talking about lunch boxes and new teachers and friends. I wanted all that for my kids too. I miss our school that we loved and my teacher friends who are back to work now without me. Don't get me wrong, I am sooooooooo thankful to be home and not going crazy back at work. And I'm excited about teaching my children at home too. I just had some wistfulness about that first week at school. But I worked it out. I'm okay! I even took pictures of my kids to commemorate school beginning even though we just went back inside after the picture.

Schooling at home has many advantages that I am just realizing. There is no mad rushing and mom yelling in the morning. We are quietly working our way to being ready to begin by 9am and it's happy and calm. Nothing like mornings of yesteryear. We are done considerably earlier than real school and have had some sweet moments together already snuggling up after lunch to read Little House on the Prairie. There are some challenges too. Third graders, I've decided, are a decidedly wild bunch and can prove to be quite a handful for mothers trying to teach them at home.

But even that has settled some with the school routine in place and some carefully considered quiet times in our rooms each afternoon. That is keeping mommy sane!

Overall, I think it is going to be a great year. A year full of memories together, learning and fun.

We already had a field trip with my sis in law Mindy and her daughter Molly two Friday's ago. We went to the Oregon Gardens for home school day. It was super fun and rewarding! I'll blog about that soon! There are good times to be had on this home school adventure and I'm going to reach for them. All in all, I"m okay!