OH?

Carolyn? You’re really going to write a post?
..you are, aren’t you?

YES. I DAREST WRITE, EVEN TO THE CRICKETS IN THE NIGHT.

(though it be 5 months since the last.)

If you have not been with me over on the king of social media, here’s what’s going on:

FIRST THINGS:

We have a new Svell in the house.

Dominic Ross.
9lbs 11oz.
Birth story coming, perhaps.

He’s already one month old. Man if that’s any indicator that I need to just let my domain name renewal pass, I don’t know what is.
All I have to say –because really, I have a lot to say, so I’m trying to do it Princess Bride “let me sum up” style- ALL I HAVE TO SAY! Is that as far as adding baby to the family goes, the transition from one baby to having 2 kids was hardest for me. The second hardest transition seems to be from having 4 kids to 5.

And that makes me laugh because at this point, it’s like, what’s one more? But for a HSP all the yell-talking from each of the 4 children AT THE SAME TIME+nursing a floppy baby+me trying to hear my own voice delegating simple tasks to each person+Emmett having a meltdown each time the batteries on his favorite toy die (which is often.) ((THE HUMANITY.)), or robotically reciting the name of the President of Sudan 500 times in a row= yes, second hardest transition.

I’d become used to being the homeschooling heli-mom who can jump in and wipe things and people asap, and suddenly I cannot. And it makes me a bit squinty and twitchy. And one particular parent decided it’d be a grand idea to start potty training Jude at this time. I won’t say who, but it wasn’t me. GRAND IDEAR.
The messes are good. Real good.

But, the brotherhood (bickerhood?) is real good too. I’ve sat and listened to Lexington teach Collin how to add, how to spell, how to do many of the things he’s supposed to learn in Kindergarten so much to the point that I’ve considered starting him off at first grade level next year. This also serves me a big scoop of gratification as I see Lexington *is* in fact learning enough to actually teach someone else (if ever I were to feel a bit self doubt-y in homeschool land). I’ve sat nursing Dominic from my Breastfeeding Jail cell in the living room listening to both Lexington and Collin ask Emmett for help on spelling complicated words. I witness them help Emmett through difficulties, bringing him down from a thrashing screaming level, to a coherent state where it’s possible to finally figure out what he needs. Also, they make eachother lunch.
Real good.

I’ll leave it at that for now and hopefully be back with Dominic’s birth story. It involves hallucinations of clouds and choirs of angels.
A Merry Christmas and happiest of the new 2018 to you all. 💛

PS. To quell your burning curiosity, the president of Sudan is Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir. The “ah” in Ahmad has that hawk-a-loogie sound which Emmett has perfected as of today. Therefore, I have a 7 year old wandering around saying this name constantly with excellent Arabic pronunciation, while also demanding “THE BIGGEST PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.”