Category Archives: Uncategorized

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful to be nursing my baby girl as I’m writing this post. She slept a whopping 8.5 hours last night- from 10:30-7. The last several nights she’s been sleeping for long stretches, it’s been wonderful. She’s two months old.

Things I’m thankful for and also goals for the rest of this year- 2024

I’m thankful for my body that bore 4 healthy children, and my goal is to exercise daily, plus 3 times per week at the gym.

I’m thankful for access to nourishing foods and clean water, and my goal is to focus on eating fuel for my body and drinking plenty of water.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to stay home to teach my kids. My goal is to provide a top tier education and create lasting memories with them.

Today was the grand opening of the tap yard, and Jane’s 2 month birthday. It was a great day. I’m heading back to the gym on Monday… we’ll see how that goes. I’m excited.

Last night she slept through the night. 10:30pm-6am. Then she slept all morning from 8:30-11:30am.

She’s been awake more during the day, cries more, coos more, and interacts more. She’s growing up before our eyes.

First of all, she’s looking less and less like a newborn. All her millia is gone from her little nose, she never goes cross eyed anymore, and she’s smiling at us and focusing on our faces. She’s adorable. I couldn’t love her any more. Every day is such a gift. We’re in Cambria and we all went out to dinner tonight. You’d think taking 4 kids out to dinner, one of which is a baby, would be stressful. And there were some slightly stressful moments. But overall it was cake. It was enjoyable. We all talked about our highs and lows of the day, the kids all tried calamari, and we shared dessert and had a great time. I love my family so much.

I got our picture day pictures back. Precious. I love that they’re in our living room.

Jane is starting to make baby noises. Little coos and squeaks. She’s also focusing on my face and smiling. I love her so much.

She had a frenotomy today, Dr. Randolph clipped under her tongue to free it, so she can stick it out and have more range of motion. She’s such a brave baby girl.

Today we drove down into the Kaweah lakebed and explored, metal detected, magnet fished, and Ava swam in what was left of the lake. I sat on a rock and fed Jane and watched the kids explore. Pete found an eagle feather and a crawdad that someone had been using as bate. Jack found quite a few bottle caps, but no luck magnet fishing.

Jane had a big girl face today. She no longer looks like a newborn. It’s the first time I’ve seen it. Her cheeks are a little chubbier, her eyes are more alert… the millia on her nose is disappearing. She’s growing so fast. She’ll be 6 weeks old on Monday.

Today was the first day open. The city granted us a temporary permit to operate so we could be open during the first concert at Zumwalt Park.

It feels like history in the making.

Jane is now 21 inches long and weighs 8 lbs 13 oz. Imagine growing two inches in a month! It’s so wild how fast they grow. She’s starting to be awake and alert for longer periods. Every time I look at her, my heart could burst. We are still going strong exclusively breastfeeding, thank you Jesus. I’m proud about that. She’s tongue tied and we’re in the process of scheduling an appointment to have her frenulum clipped. I’m glad we went through this with Jack so I know what to expect. Thanks for being the trailblazer, Jack. ♥️

In other news, Pete found a dead snake outside and has been carrying around its head. It’s currently on my kitchen windowsill.

The kids and I, which now includes Jane, took a road trip to Avila Beach today to go to the pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun, we went to Avila Valley Barn, the park in Avila, and walked along the promenade to Hula Hut. Their kitchen was closed for lunch, so we made our way to Pismo to Cool Cats before heading home.

Jane’s starting to be more awake and alert during certain times of the day. The milia on her nose is clearing up a little. She had her second bath today and I made the water much warmer and wrapped her up and propped her on a warm towel in her little tub, she was a big fan and came out with very fluffy hair. Her little snore sounds like a creaky wooden rocking chair. She is so so beautiful.

So far, Jane has been to church twice, an Encore play, and two Bible studies… and tonight we even brought snacks! She’s met with a vendor at the downtown building, she’s gone thrift shopping (which was actually her first outing as we were searching for a homeschool table), she attended the soft opening of The Baron’s Table wine bar, grabbed a coffee at The Well, went to the Library for a couple hours… I’m sure there’s things I’m not thinking of. She turned 2 weeks old yesterday. She’s just such a sweet and calm baby, it’s easy to bring her along for all the things. I’ve gotten many super mom comments for being back in the routine so quickly… but really it’s Jane. She’s wonderful and she has the sweetest personality. She sleeps long enough during the night for me to get some rest, and naps during the day so I can get things done. The kids are all big helpers, too. I just love this baby, and all my babies, so so much.