Week in My Life 2014, Sunday

Welcome to Week in My Life! Scroll on down to the bottom for today’s linky!

Let’s wrap it up, shall we?

Today was all about getting ready to do it all over again. Groundhog Day anyone?

Our night of sleep was short, but Gianna managed to sleep a six-hour stretch. I’m not sure everyone got out of their pajamas until just before lunch. Scott and I did a little Sunday menu planning. He and the kids typically map out what we’re having for an entire month and then we head to the store each week for the ingredients. Pre-Gianna the grocery store run was my gig, but since sleep and schedules have been so erratic Mr. Whitaker has kindly taken over that duty until we can get our bearings again. This usually takes place on Mondays, but we’ve moved it to Sundays recently and it seems to be working. If you wonder how we do meals, wonder no more.

I know. He’s awesome.

While he was at the store, I put Gianna down for a nap and helped everyone finish up homework and pick up the house because today we had a surprise visitor. Our niece! Ava is here from Alabama for a few weeks, staying with grandparents, but we were able to have her crash the party for a day and overnight. The kids are beyond excited. Scott arrived home from the store, Gianna woke up, we got everyone fed lunch, got laundry sorted and washing and then Anna-Laura was picked up by a friend for an impromptu 4-H Food Challenge practice.

Around 2, I put G back down for a nap and realized that we never sent Luke to nap. Oops! We did, however, send Will to bed because he had a big night coming (scroll on down for that fun news). I was just beginning to knock out a small bit of client work, but the eyes were not cooperating. Our living room had a roaring fire, a TV with football and a dreary, icky rain going on outside. While the littles watched a movie upstairs, Scott and I took a power nap on the couches. That is, until Gianna reminded us that she wanted to be held! She woke up and we tackled laundry in earnest. And by earnest, I mean that Scott dumped all the clean clothes in the middle of the living room and said, “We should probably fold that.” My reply? “Nah, let’s just tackle it after Mass.” So we did. Anna-Laura arrived home and we got everyone changed for church.

Ugh. That was painful.

Please tell me your kids bellyache about clothes, too. After the great fashion drama of 2014, we gathered up all seven kids and headed to Mass. The boys were both serving as altar servers, Scott was a Eucharistic Minister and I lectored. Luke crashed in the pew about halfway through the homily and slept through all the festivities. We decided that our niece wins kid of the year. She went to TWO Masses today (one with her grandparents and then again with us) and she was the best behaved of the bunch. Aunt Amanda and Uncle Daniel – well done!

We saw the Sisters, ran into lots of friends, but when the Deacon started turning off the church lights, we decided we should probably come home. The girls bathed and man, aren’t they cute?

The boys watched football and then we all got that huge pile of laundry folded and put up. I really should’ve taken a picture because it was epic.

We’ve been meaning to start cereal for Gianna, so while dinner cooked in the oven, we gave it a shot. Verdict? She loved it! We skipped rice and went straight for oatmeal. I guess it’s time for me to start making baby food again. Yes, we don’t get into a rush with the food business. I went through way too much stress with Luke’s sensory challenges that I think I’ve been holding off in hopes that Gianna would be really ready when we began. So far, that’s proving to be a smart decision.

We ate, said prayers, nursed a baby and folded one last load before getting everyone off to bed.

You’d think our week would end there, but one more surprise in store. Will was invited to the news station for a sports broadcast, so he and Scott took off around 9:30 and arrived home just before midnight. Will was able to watch the sportscaster in action, talk to them afterward and generally just have an all around blast. The kid would get an A+++ in sports trivia if it was possible. He was in heaven.

And, THAT, was our Sunday.

So, what did I learn from this year’s Week in My Life?

1. We’re busy. I mean, I don’t think we’re exceptionally busy, but when I think back to life before all these kids, then yes, we’re busy.
2. Being busy isn’t an excuse. This week reminded me that I need to continue to be purposeful and deliberate about the things I say yes to.
3. God gave me lots of opportunities to be patient. And I didn’t always pay attention.
4. Gianna’s eyelashes are crazy long.
5. I need to make a point to get the fancy camera out and take more photos.
6. We’ve gotta get Gianna out of our room and sleeping better. That’s going to take some creative kid rearranging, but it needs to happen by Christmas.
7. I miss time with Scott. We’ve been in survival mode with a new baby, but as we enter into the next six months I’m looking forward to having a more predictable routine and some rocking date nights with the man I adore.
8. It takes a village. I depend on so many people to do this mothering gig and it’s an honor to help out other mommas along their journey, too. Sometimes it might feel like we’re on our own island, but the community we’ve created is oh-so-important to my sanity.
9. Goodwill needs some bags of stuff from us and I am only too happy to oblige.
10. Having y’all along for the ride has been a blast. I loved checking Instagram, sneaking a peek into your lives, reading your blog posts and seeing your comments. I really, truly, have a great bunch of readers in y’all. THANK YOU!

Until WIML 2015 – peace out!

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