a long hiatus, no?

Yes, it's been a while, but I'm still here. ;)  Life just happens too fast for me these days, and my poor neglected blog has ended up being pushed to the bottom of the pile.  ;)  I just wanted to take a moment tonight to write a few things that are on my heart, though a proper update is definitely in order soon.  I miss writing, and I miss being able to look back to what I've written to see how far I've come and how we've all grown.  These days I'm knee-deep in the throes of mothering three amazing kids and working full-time, and that is all I can do at the moment, with little bits of my "old life" thrown in every now and again to keep me sane.  I have to keep reminding myself to be patient and enjoy this crazy ride, because it IS hard these days...but I am so lucky to be where I'm at right now.  I should go to bed, but what's another twenty minutes to write down a bit of my life tonight?

• Arden Claire is turning 9 months old tomorrow.  Nine. Months. Old.  How?!?  I swear that the past nine months has gone by in a blink.  This little nugget has now been sitting up on her own, crawling, and pulling up to stand for the past two months.  I suspect that sometime this week she will no longer be a toothless wonder because she's definitely got some swollen gums and isn't her normal happy little self these days (though a much happier teether than her big brother, that's for sure!).  We're still making nursing work even though it's not the most fun I've ever had having to pump at work these past couple of months, so I'm pretty proud of the fact that we're continuing on our breastfeeding journey.  She's now added a quite a taste for solid food to her menu, and you can tell she loves when she is able to eat real food with us.  This little miss is such a blessing to me, and I live for her smile.  :)
• My sweet Jackson boy will be turning two and a half years old on Tuesday!  He continually impresses me with his brains and with his stubbornness.  ;)  This little guy has been pretending so much lately, and I have to say that it's quite adorable to listen to his little games as he plays them.  He is such a talker, and he has quite an extensive vocabulary from picking up new words and phrases that we use and that he hears on t.v.  This kid is, as they say, "all boy."  I'm pretty sure that is just a code word for "nonstop" and "crazy" and "wicked stubborn," but you know I love all that about him anyway.  He loves to play outside, to eat bananas and noodles, and most of all, he loves his "bink" and blue blankies.  ;)  Jackson still wakes up typically two or three times a night, which is the most challenging thing about him.  In an effort to try to figure out a reason as to why he is such a terrible sleeper, I took him to a sleep study recommended by his ENT doc.  It was heart-wrenching to watch him get hooked up to the machines and to see him like that, but we're all at the end of our rope with waking up every night at this point.  I'll keep on doing whatever I need to do, but I decided that if they can tell me if something's wrong that I'd like to know.  It's been a long month while we wait for the follow-up appointment to hear the results, but tomorrow we go to the doctor for that appointment.  I'm so anxious to hear the results...I don't want anything to be wrong with him, but I do want to know if something is wrong.
• Adelle is almost a quarter of the way through third grade...eight years old going on sixteen!  I wish that she would slow down sometimes and be a kid, but sometimes I forget that she is just a kid and can't always be as responsible as I'd like her to be. We butt heads a lot these days because she's really starting to assert her independence and I'm not always able to be as patient as I'd like since I'm under a lot of stress and not getting much sleep. I'm working on developing personal responsibility in her, but I think it's going to be a challenge for both of us.  ;)  As she grows, I see so many similarities and differences between the two of us...it's hard recognizing things in your kid that you know were challenges for you personally.  I love when we get the time to just spend time together and do things that we enjoy, but the truth is that in this busy life we're leading, it's tough to just have time together when we don't have to do anything except just be together.  Normally, spending time together is something more like I'm packing lunches and washing dishes while Adelle does her homework and eats her bedtime snack.  I really want to get into a better groove about spending equal amounts of time with each of my babies...especially my Adelle, who I think is feeling neglected by her mama these days because the little ones need so much attention these days.  I love seeing how much she loves music and how funny she can be.  She's such a fun, quirky person!