A Day in the Life

What is it like raising 6 children ages 17 (almost) to 15 months?

I thought it might be fun to give a run down of a typical day. Mostly for myself, so I can look back on this time years from now and remember what it's like. Also for my family who may wonder why I never have time to call. And to encourage anyone else in the trenches: you're not alone.

5:15am: Baby wakes up. Already was up to feed him at 2am, but since I went to bed at 9pm the night before I really got plenty of sleep. Somehow though, the sleep between 5am and 6am is particularly restful for me. Missing that today.

6:00am: Husband plays with baby while I make coffee and check my email for the first time. We drink coffee, talk, I do some dishes and get the day started.

7:45am: Take the big kids to school. I load up all the kids in the van, a couple of them are eating toast while we drive. The biggest kid says he forgot to wash his basketball jersey for his game tonight. I suggest that wearing a stinky jersey that's just going to get stinky again is no big deal, but he's not convinced. I'll wash it for him but not tell him that until I pick him up this afternoon. We listen to John MacArthur on the way home.

8:30am I feed the baby his breakfast (applesauce and baby oatmeal) and put him down for a morning nap since he's been up since 5:15! Get the homeschool kids started on some work.

We all work to pick up the house a little since we have Ruth's piano teacher and our homeschool teacher coming over today. The kids need snacks.

10:00am Ruth has her piano lesson with her wonderful teacher. Ruth is really loving learning the piano. Eventually Ben wakes up from his nap and nurses. We finish school work and I finish grading their work from the last month to be ready to show their CT (Credentialed Teacher). The kids eat lunch. Teacher calls and says she'll be here early. Oh goody.

12:30pm We meet with our CT and go over Ruth and Paul's school work. This year I'm trying a public charter homeschool. It has many pros and cons, but basically allows me to use state $ for curriculum and extra curricular activities. The CT verifies that the kids are actually learning. While meeting with the CT I feed Ben lunch.

2:30pm Nurse Ben and load up to pick up the kids from school. Sarah and Phillip have piano lessons after school today. I play with the little ones in Mrs. Ward's den while listening to make sure the big kids have been practicing well enough and see if there's anything I need to remind them of this week. They have their Christmas recital on Saturday. Ben crawls forward about 2 feet to get to his puff snacks. He loves those things.

4:30pm Sarah gets started on her homework. I get dinner started. Tonight it's spaghetti. Russell will be home in just enough time to take Phillip and the big girls to the basketball game. Ben is fussy b/c he hasn't napped since 11am. He gets dinner too (a smashed-up version of spaghetti). After the group leaves for the game I let Paul and Mary watch some TV while I nurse Ben and get him down for the night.

6:45pm Baby is asleep. I tackle the mountain of laundry that needs to be folded on my bed. Paul and Mary ask for hot chocolate. I do dishes while they drink. We read some books, pray and sing a hymn and they're in bed by 8:30.

Now it's 9:15. They're back from the basketball game. Phillip says the game was bad because they lost. Russell says it was a good game. They were down by 20 but rallied to come back within reach. I need to get to bed myself, though, because I have a feeling I'll be hearing from someone around 2am.

A Year Ago Today

One year ago today our Ben got yanked from his cozy, warm, quiet nest and tossed into this crazy, bright, loud, gravity-bound world.

He's fit right in and his siblings just adore him, as do Mom and Dad.

As the local weather begins to transition from summer to fall I'm often drawn to memories from last year. All the hours spent in my glider attached to the breast pump making sure I had enough milk for Ben when he finally got the hang of breastfeeding. Helping Sarah with her homework as she adjusted from homeschool to Cornerstone Christian School. A dear friend who helped watch the kids a few mornings each week after Russell went back to work. Sweet memories.


Paul and Mary are especially drawn to Ben.

Paul reading to Mary and Ben

Mary helping Ben with his crawling skills

My overarching reality for Ben's first year of life is how "normal" he is. Not that "normal" is some goal or anything, but His extra chromosome has presented very few issues for us thus far. Ben is definitely small (even by Lowery baby standards), and delayed (not crawling or babbling much yet), but those things don't bother me the slightest. In fact, I'm happy he's giving us a little longer to get the house ready a mobile baby again! I know Ben will learn to talk, walk, eat real food, drink from a cup (INSTEAD OF MOMMY!) read, sing (hopefully IN TUNE), swim, play sports, and WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE! I'm not at all concerned that he's a little behind his peers. He's got an extra chromosome people!

Life now hums along at a fairly steady clip. My days are still busy but not as desperate as they were in those first few weeks after Ben's arrival! School is in full swing with me teaching Ruth (2nd grade) and Paul (Kindergarten) at home. Phillip (11th) and Sarah (5th) at Cornerstone. We're busy with soccer and piano and co-op class and church and trips to the library and family outings and who has time to do dishes or fold laundry! Not me :-)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Garage Room Project

Our cozy home has a good sized one-car garage. The deep back end has been a complete black hole - a wonderful home to all types of spiders and transient rodents, but not a useful space for us humans. I've long had the idea of reclaiming this space somehow, particularly for storage since my home has a major deficit of closet space compared to the size of our family. I also saw a need for quiet space for the homeschoolers and the kids needing to do homework. Enter Ron Craig!

framing

in process

drywall up

carpet comes on Monday!

still room to park my van!

I can't say enough great things about Ron's work! He really knows his stuff, enjoys his work, and far exceeded our expectations for this project. Can't wait to get the room set up and start school (although I still might have to convince a couple kids this will NOT be a bedroom option)! :-)

Ben 9 month check-up

This precious boy is happy, healthy, and growing!

Holding steady in the 25th % and weighing in at 14lbs 10oz. Ben's favorite activities these days are practicing sitting up (he's so close to sitting unassisted), playing with toys that make noise or shake, and pulling his sisters' hair. Oh and making a raspberry/spitting noise with  his lips -- a charming accompaniment to corporate worship services at church :-)

Free eBooks from R.C. Sproul!

This is such a good deal I thought it needed its own blog post. Ligonier is making this set of eBooks free forever! How cool is that?!?!

Titles include: "Can I Trust the Bible?" "Does God Control Everything?" "What Does It Mean to be Born Again?" "What Is the Trinity?" "Can I Be Sure I'm Saved?"

R.C. calls these "Crucial Questions" and I couldn't agree more. Moms, these would be great resources for you because if your kids haven't asked you these questions yet, it's a good bet they will someday!

Thanks for considering my theological appeal. Your reward is a video of Ben practicing his rolling and foot-eating skills. Yes, that is a hair band around his leg. Sisters. 'Nuf said.

Rambling Update

Here's a boring "Christmas letter"-type blog post to get everyone caught up with what life looks like for us these days (and a bonus video at the end!) I'll ramble atch'a a little from oldest to youngest...

Russell continues to thrive at PG&E. I'm so thankful he gets up every morning excited to work hard for his employer, but he's also excited to come home to his family at the end of the day. He gives himself freely to encouraging other men to love God and love their families and also helps with teaching the Word at our church and serving as a deacon. He keeps threatening to go on "Atkins" again, as his belt has gotten a little tighter. He doesn't have the flexibility in his wardrobe that I do (elastic-waist pants, oh yes.) I'm so thankful for this wonderful husband who is a true Christ-like servant-leader for our family.

My days are packed with carting the kids around to school, piano lessons, and swim lessons starting on Monday for Sarah. The younger kids will start swimming next month. Ben still takes 30 - 45 mins to eat and I usually read some on my iPad or kindle while he goes at it. Then I keep the laundry, dishes and food going, and squeeze in Ruth's school lessons. I meet with a ladies Bible study group every other week and get some park days with friends from time to time. I also help with leading singing at church and in the nursery. I enjoy exercising at our gym when I take the time to do it, but it's easy to find other ways to spend my time these days!

Phillip is a sophomore at Cornerstone. 4.0 GPA, accomplished pianist, budding guitarist and choir nerd, lousy soccer player (but he loves it), kids Sunday School volunteer and church pianist when I twist his arm :-) He's also learning to drive so I don't have to cart him around everywhere forever (although I think that's what he'd prefer).

Sarah is in 4th grade at Cornerstone also. She loves it but has had to work hard (homework was quite a shock!). She also takes piano lessons and is doing swim team instead of Little League this year (although she really can keep up with the boys in baseball.)  I miss having her home since she's so helpful with her younger siblings and chores around the house!

Ruth is in 1st grade at Highview Academy (our homeschool). She's very bright and easy to teach, although math fact tests are not her favorite. Ruth reads well and finishes all the books we get from the library within the first 24 hrs!

Paul is in preschool at Highview and loves learning whatever Ruth is learning. He has a natural golf swing and often takes his putter out to the back yard to work on his short game.

Mary, I'm happy to report, is finally potty-trained! When I got my act together and decided to lose the diapers she got with the program in no time. She talks a mile a minuet, loves baby Ben, and is quite a mischievous almost-three-year-old. Gotta watch that one...

Ben is doing just great. He's settled into a good feeding/sleeping routine and is a happy, content little dude! He's growing at a slower pace, but that's normal for Trisomy 21 babies. We haven't started any therapies with him yet, but probably will in the next few months. Meanwhile, his siblings give him lots of physical, occupational, and speech therapy every day!



Thus concludes this edition of "Random Tales from Lowerydom." If I had more interesting things to say or more time to post this blog might see more action. But I'll probably just stick to posting photos of the kids :-)

CO Photos and Ben Update

Here's a long awaited blog update!  

We went to visit Grandma Bobbi and Grandpa Ed at the end of December!

Phillip shoveled the driveway!

Lots of time chillin'!

A walk with Grandma.  We didn't go far - it was COLD!

Paul thought shorts and t-shirt were a good idea for about 5 minutes.

We went to church together!

Snow fun with Uncle Dave and cousins!

Not the normal peace and quiet they were used to!

And here's a little Ben update:
 
We just got back from his 4month check-up with the pediatrician and Ben's doing just great (I didn't need the Dr. to tell me that).

He's just shy of 11 lbs which puts him solidly in the 30th percentile on the Down syndrome chart for weight. He's definitely outgrown all his 0-3 month onsies and sleepers - I love that he's growing well, it's just always sad to put away those tiny clothes! We're very pleased breastfeeding is trucking along and that he's so healthy! I'll have to do better about giving him more tummy time and "wearing" him more. With my other babies I purposely tried to DELAY their mobility (tummy time leads to rolling which leads to sitting which leads to crawling and no one wants that!) But Ben may actually need the help with muscle development that these activities can provide. He sure seems to be plenty strong, though, as we've noticed him trying to sit up lately (doing little mini crunches).

We all just love Ben and are so thankful God decided to bring him to this planet.