My journey as a wife, mom, and nurse: October 2012

All is well here. Well, most days it is :) Being a Mom to 3 young ones definitely can be challenging. Some days seem to go smooth and other days I am counting the minutes until bedtime (the kids bedtime, not mine). There have been many nights that I have been putting Matthew and Luke to bed at 7:00 p.m. on the dot. Luckily it is darker in the evening now so it is easier to put them to bed that early. Being a Mom to 3 has made me realize that I need some order and control in the house. That means everyday I need to keep the kitchen and house picked up. That doesn't necessarily happen, but I am trying. I find that I become "mean mommy" when the house is a mess and I am not feeling a sense of control so I am trying to stay more organized and on top of things. It just makes everything run smoother. Of course I am cutting myself some slack since Joshua isn't even quite 2 months yet. My priority right now is him right now. I know it will get a lot easier as he gets older.

Speaking of Joshua "Joshy," he is doing great. Getting big and smiling lots. He is sleeping great at night. I am attempting to get him to bed by 8:00 p.m. and sometimes he goes right to sleep but other times he needs me to help him get to sleep which is fine. Once he is asleep he isn't waking up until 3 or 4 a.m. for a feeding then back to sleep until 7:00 ish. I expect that he won't be wanting that nightime feeding in a few weeks. I think a lot of people think that "breastfed babies" don't sleep through the night for a long time, but all of my boys have been exclusively breastfed and they were all sleeping conistently through the night by 3 months and when I say "through the night" I mean 12 hours with no wakings. My supply stayed steady and they all gained weight well. Joshua seems to be following the same pattern as his 2 older brothers, but if he wants a feeding at night that is fine with me too. I am just following his lead.

I am in the process of finding a sitter to come to the house to watch the boys after I go back to work. So far I have a couple of good leads. We decided with 3 kids it would be much easier to have someone come to the house and watch the kids. I will be changing my schedule up when I go back. I plan to work Saturday days and Sunday nights. So I will just need a sitter on Saturdays (all day) and Monday mornings only. I wanted to be around all week since Matthew is in school. I am actually looking forward to going back to work. As I have said many times before I have the best of both worlds. I feel like a "stay at home" Mom most of the time, but I get a break 2 days a week to go do something different. I really do like what I do and I feel so blessed that the Lord led me to my career in nursing.

Well Halloween is today. We plan to stay home this year and do some trick or treating in the neighborhood. We will just go to the houses right around us which will be plenty. I really don't want them getting too much candy. This past Saturday night we went to the in-laws church for their Fall Festival. It was a lot of fun and the boys had a great time.

Can't think of much else at the moment.

Blessings,