Right now Restaurant.com is offering a special: 80% off their already discounted price. What this means is that you can get a $25 gift certificate for $2. How do you do this? Enter "TREAT" in the coupon code space when you checkout.
Please note that there are some caveats for using these gift certificates. Most of them require a $35 purchase to use them (so you'll actually be paying $10 out of pocket) and you're supposed to tip on the total price.
They're good deals and Gabe and I have used them with great success. It makes a nice restaurant into an affordable restaurant! :)
Thanks to Mimi for letting me know about it!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Loveliness
My garden has been sadly neglected these past months, and isn't much to look at. Jonathan and Thomas have taken over much of it in their quest for places to dig and "build roads". (They're going to be sad in a few months when I decide to re-plant!) Still, a few things are holding on and blooming, and when I can I bring some inside. Just a few roses can brighten up the whole room!
Josiah update
Josiah is one month old, and we're all starting to find our new rhythm. It isn't perfect, but we're getting there! Siah still thinks that night-time sleep begins at 11pm or so. But last night he slept from 11pm until 5:30am and for that I will forgive him pretty much anything. :) Not that anything needs forgiving - he is such a happy, pleasant baby! He almost never cries, unless he's hungry or needs a new diaper. I can count on one hand the truly fussy days he's had so far.
During the day I lay the quilt that Jenn made for him on the floor in the family room, and that becomes Josiah's headquarters. (Jenn, we LOVE that quilt!) It provides a sort of "baby space" and the older boys tend to play around him but not on top of him! Josiah enjoys watching all the activity going on around him, and Jonathan and Thomas take regular breaks from their games to pet his head and kiss him.
We just started doing some tummy time with Siah, and incredibly, he likes it! Neither Jonathan nor Thomas appreciated tummy time. :) He also likes a pacifier, which is another new and wonderful trait. Josiah may look like his brothers did, but he is decidedly his own little person.
He is still having trouble nursing, and I would appreciate prayers that this would resolve quickly. He tends to not open his jaw enough, and also he just. won't. stay. latched. I re-latch him about every 1-2 minutes, sometimes more often. It makes it very difficult to do anything else while nursing, even just reading to J and T, because I'm using both of my hands so much.
Oh, and he is starting to smile! Darling, darling, darling. I think I could have twelve children and still be as charmed with the baby sweetness of the twelfth as of the first.
Not that I want to have twelve children, mind! :) But oh, the sweetness of a newborn!
During the day I lay the quilt that Jenn made for him on the floor in the family room, and that becomes Josiah's headquarters. (Jenn, we LOVE that quilt!) It provides a sort of "baby space" and the older boys tend to play around him but not on top of him! Josiah enjoys watching all the activity going on around him, and Jonathan and Thomas take regular breaks from their games to pet his head and kiss him.
We just started doing some tummy time with Siah, and incredibly, he likes it! Neither Jonathan nor Thomas appreciated tummy time. :) He also likes a pacifier, which is another new and wonderful trait. Josiah may look like his brothers did, but he is decidedly his own little person.
He is still having trouble nursing, and I would appreciate prayers that this would resolve quickly. He tends to not open his jaw enough, and also he just. won't. stay. latched. I re-latch him about every 1-2 minutes, sometimes more often. It makes it very difficult to do anything else while nursing, even just reading to J and T, because I'm using both of my hands so much.
Oh, and he is starting to smile! Darling, darling, darling. I think I could have twelve children and still be as charmed with the baby sweetness of the twelfth as of the first.
Not that I want to have twelve children, mind! :) But oh, the sweetness of a newborn!
Friday, October 17, 2008
To make up for the lack of words...
pictures!
The biggest brother.
Josiah doesn't think much of bath time.
Gabe and the big boys, heading out to wash the car.
Thomas enjoying his new baby brother.
Oh, and I cut my hair. And got new glasses.
The biggest brother.
Josiah doesn't think much of bath time.
Gabe and the big boys, heading out to wash the car.
Thomas enjoying his new baby brother.
Oh, and I cut my hair. And got new glasses.
Radio silence
Mothering three children is kicking my backside. Hence the dearth of posts.
Josiah is nearing 3 weeks old. He still thinks that night time doesn't begin until about 11pm, but otherwise is a perfectly delightful baby. He sleeps 3-4 hour stretches during the night and also 3-4 hours in the afternoon, some of it during the other boys' naptime/quiet time. Bless that child. His awake periods are becoming more defined and he has the most beautiful big eyes - he looks around and makes "oh" with his mouth as he takes in the world. It is the sweetest thing you've ever seen. I love the newborn stage, even with the sleep deprivation that comes with the territory. And really, Josiah is being incredibly kind to us in terms of sleep.
Thomas has adjusted well to his new middle child status. He thinks that Josiah is the most fascinating toy he's ever encountered, and I spend a large percentage of my day making sure that he isn't being a little too exuberant with the baby! Thomas is almost always the first one to let me know when Josiah wakes up - he runs up to me and makes excited noises while pointing to Josiah's location and pulling on my hand.
Other favorite pastimes of Thomas' are building with Duplo blocks and playing with Brio trains. He is becoming quite adept at creating Duplo buildings, towers, and airplanes, and while he isn't very good at making Brio tracks yet, he enjoys hooking the trains together and running them across the tracks that Jonathan makes.
Jonathan is being a fantastic eldest brother, except when Thomas takes "his" toys or breaks his Brio tracks. :) Although I have to do my fair share of policing, he and Thomas generally play together really well. I'm particularly grateful for this fact when I'm nursing Josiah. Jonathan also loves Josiah - just the other day he was hanging out beside Josiah on the couch, stroking his head, and he said "Mom, I just love my brother." He has an adorable "baby voice" - high and sweet - that he uses when he's talking to Josiah, and frequently offers to "take Josiah" while I do something else. Of course I can't actually do anything else while helping Jonathan hold Josiah, but isn't it sweet for him to offer?
Jonathan is currently fascinated by knights and monsters. We've read St. George and the Dragon, and recently have been reading Cowardly Clyde (by Bill Peet). Both stories really captured J's imagination, and we are frequently treated to shouts of "a monster! Quick! Oh, it's ok, he went kerpuffle!" and the like. A few days ago he asked, "Dad, do you want to come see the ogre?" Dad agreed, asking "is it your brother?" Jonathan, pointing enthusiastically, cried "Yeah! He's a terrifying ogre!" So far, thankfully, he hasn't tried to make Thomas go "kerpuffle", or stick swords into him. Although I'm sure that eventually he will!
I know that there are other things that I've meant to blog about, but I can't remember them now. It really is taking pretty much all my multitasking/memory ability just to keep up with laundry, pick up the house, keep everyone reasonably clean and fed, not forget crucial things like appointments, and get everyone out of the house on time three times a week (more when there are appointments!) I'm getting better at the juggling act, but it IS a juggling act!
So...posting will probably continue to be sparse for awhile...bear with me while we get ourselves together as a family of five!
Mercy. FIVE!!!
Josiah is nearing 3 weeks old. He still thinks that night time doesn't begin until about 11pm, but otherwise is a perfectly delightful baby. He sleeps 3-4 hour stretches during the night and also 3-4 hours in the afternoon, some of it during the other boys' naptime/quiet time. Bless that child. His awake periods are becoming more defined and he has the most beautiful big eyes - he looks around and makes "oh" with his mouth as he takes in the world. It is the sweetest thing you've ever seen. I love the newborn stage, even with the sleep deprivation that comes with the territory. And really, Josiah is being incredibly kind to us in terms of sleep.
Thomas has adjusted well to his new middle child status. He thinks that Josiah is the most fascinating toy he's ever encountered, and I spend a large percentage of my day making sure that he isn't being a little too exuberant with the baby! Thomas is almost always the first one to let me know when Josiah wakes up - he runs up to me and makes excited noises while pointing to Josiah's location and pulling on my hand.
Other favorite pastimes of Thomas' are building with Duplo blocks and playing with Brio trains. He is becoming quite adept at creating Duplo buildings, towers, and airplanes, and while he isn't very good at making Brio tracks yet, he enjoys hooking the trains together and running them across the tracks that Jonathan makes.
Jonathan is being a fantastic eldest brother, except when Thomas takes "his" toys or breaks his Brio tracks. :) Although I have to do my fair share of policing, he and Thomas generally play together really well. I'm particularly grateful for this fact when I'm nursing Josiah. Jonathan also loves Josiah - just the other day he was hanging out beside Josiah on the couch, stroking his head, and he said "Mom, I just love my brother." He has an adorable "baby voice" - high and sweet - that he uses when he's talking to Josiah, and frequently offers to "take Josiah" while I do something else. Of course I can't actually do anything else while helping Jonathan hold Josiah, but isn't it sweet for him to offer?
Jonathan is currently fascinated by knights and monsters. We've read St. George and the Dragon, and recently have been reading Cowardly Clyde (by Bill Peet). Both stories really captured J's imagination, and we are frequently treated to shouts of "a monster! Quick! Oh, it's ok, he went kerpuffle!" and the like. A few days ago he asked, "Dad, do you want to come see the ogre?" Dad agreed, asking "is it your brother?" Jonathan, pointing enthusiastically, cried "Yeah! He's a terrifying ogre!" So far, thankfully, he hasn't tried to make Thomas go "kerpuffle", or stick swords into him. Although I'm sure that eventually he will!
I know that there are other things that I've meant to blog about, but I can't remember them now. It really is taking pretty much all my multitasking/memory ability just to keep up with laundry, pick up the house, keep everyone reasonably clean and fed, not forget crucial things like appointments, and get everyone out of the house on time three times a week (more when there are appointments!) I'm getting better at the juggling act, but it IS a juggling act!
So...posting will probably continue to be sparse for awhile...bear with me while we get ourselves together as a family of five!
Mercy. FIVE!!!
Monday, October 06, 2008
Colbert on the election...
and Shakespeare. Truly entertaining, particularly if you can remember the basics of Shakespeare's plays.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Siblings
In the midst of the somewhat foggy first few days as a mother of three, one thing has really stood out to me. I am glad that my children have siblings. For them, because they have built in friends right here all the time. And for me, because I think it makes it easier to add the third child.
When Thomas was born, Jonathan had a really hard time for a few days, and I had a really hard time for a lot of days, because Jonathan had to adjust to losing me as his personal playmate. This time, both Jonathan and Thomas are adjusting to having less of my time, but in the past few days they have also suddenly morphed into the best of friends and playmates. They played together before, but they're spending more time together now, and without as many fights for me to break up. It looks to me like by having me forcibly removed the mix (as much) they've suddenly realized what a great thing their own relationship is. It is beautiful to watch.
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