Maggie is now almost 2 weeks old -- the time is going by quickly because of everything going on around here. (she is actually 9 weeks old by the time I have gotten around to writing this and sending this. Paul keeps bugging me and the only way I can get him to stop bugging me is to just write and send the letter.) Claire and Rachel are doing pretty well with a new sister, though Claire has had a couple of bouts of attitude that we attribute to a change of attention to her. We expected it more of Rachel, but it makes sense that Claire senses the change more than Rachel, who is still somewhat oblivious. (Claire has no problem with Maggie, she just has problems with Paul and I. She's having a hard time listening and obeying. She loves Maggie! Rachel got a few whacks on the head in on Maggie and now tolerates her being around.) The big thing now is dealing with the staggered wake-ups -- Maggie is expected to be up a few times during the night, but Claire and Rachel are having bad dreams or something that require intervention at the worst times of the night ( I have to wake Paul up to let him know that the girls are crying or calling him). But that being the worst of having another child, I think we are doing great. (I guess so)
For me, it has been strange because it is the busiest time of the semester, if not the year, for me at work, and so I have barely had time to spend with Maggie, especially since what time I have had at home I have been trying to make sure Claire and Rachel are taken care of so that JJ can devote time to Maggie.
A lot of things are going on at work, and with the ice storm we lost a few days to do them. This last week I have been working on my annual review packet, revising a couple of articles, preparing for my classes, and beginning some projects for the new composition course for next Fall. I am most behind in grading my online class assignments, but should catch up this next week.
Last Saturday, I joined members of our stake and some members from Nashville to do some clean up around the region. We helped with some members' homes, and though we had the Helping Hands t-shirts, we didn't have time to work on any other homes. It was a good experience, but there is still lots to be done. It will be an ongoing project throughout the spring for most people because there is so much tree damage.
Judy left on Wednesday the 11th, and her being here was a big help. If she hadn't been here, I wouldn't have been able to do so much work that needed to be done, and having her here also helped JJ sort of adjust to Maggie without feeling too overwhelmed. Since the baby has been born, members of the ward and friends have taken care of us with meals, which has also been a big help. But Wednesday night felt quite different with just the two of us to take care of the girls. (It is always hard when Grandmas and Grandpas leave, but this was especially hard with a new little Maggie, lots of hormones and after three weeks, we were kind of used to her here. So Maggie and I both cried when we dropped her off at the airport and then went shopping for just a little bit to make us feel better.)
We have tried to keep everything fairly normal for Claire and Rachel, and so they went to Rachel's storytime on Tuesday and I took Claire to storytime on Wednesday -- we had a babysitter watch Rachel while JJ took Maggie with her to take Judy to Nashville. Claire started a new season of Messy Art class on Friday morning, and I took her before going to work for the rest of the day -- she was the only kid there, much different than before when there were always about 6 kids. Friday night we invited the couple, the Munozs who brought dinner for us to eat with us because we had never had them over. We had sort of prearranged the idea, and they didn't think it was too weird. We provided dessert. It was a fun evening. (I told them they could join us anytime they wanted to bring us dinner.)
Thursday evening I took both the girls to the women's basketball game at MSU, and that worked out well. Since so few people attend those games, the girls were able to play around the bleachers around me without bothering anyone. We stayed until a little after the men's game started, leaving because it was bedtime for both. But they had a good time on the bleachers, and at the kid's area with inflatable obstacle course, as well as on the shuttle bus back to the car. They had fun and I enjoyed watching the games, and JJ had time to rest with Maggie.
Saturday morning I took Claire and Rachel to the town pinewood derby, as we had some people from our ward participating. Claire was tired, though, and feeling kind of sick, so we didn't stay for too long. One of our ward cub scouts actually won the whole thing, out of about 60 boys, we heard later. I took Claire home so she could rest, and took Rachel to the store with me. We made a heart-shaped pizza for supper,(since it was Valentine's Day and any other expression of the holiday is vetoed by Paul) and ended up eating with Bridget and Katey because they were over visiting, and then later we had a babysitter come over and we took Maggie with us to the International Cinema movie, "Casablanca." It was great. JJ hadn't seen it before, and it had been long enough for me that it was all pretty new, and it was great to see it on the big screen. What a movie.
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