Lucy Holland 4-5 months

My Lucy. You have started smiling more often and have even started giggling and it's the happiest noise in the entire world. I can see the light of your personality starting to shine through tiny bit by tiny bit and it's so exciting. We've had a crazy, stressful, busy month - but you've been a champ through it all and sometimes when I get so overwhelmed I just feel like giving up I look into your eyes and I feel peace and calm enter into my heart. It doens't usually last for very long, but just those few moments of knowing that you are counting on me, that you love me, and that the things I do will impact your life help me to believe in myself and my ability as your mother.

Stats: 3-6 month clothes. Size 2 diapers. Hats for life! 

Sometimes it feels as if everything is different because of Lucy's Albinism and Nystagmus diagnosis, but most of the time it feels as if nothing is different at all. Sometimes I forget to even mention it to people who don't know about it because they aren't on social media, even though it's something that they would definitely want to know - not because I don't like talking about it but because the fear of the unknown has settled down and our normal life has resumed. At this point, there aren't many day-to-day accommodations that she needs. She's just a regular baby who needs to be held, fed, changed and loved. She's just our Lucy Holland and we love her. 

Some things I want to remember about this month: 

-We've been spending a lot of time with the Peaden Family. Going to West Jordan on Tuesdays while Cal is at the temple to be with Sue and also taking every ounce of help we can get from Bruce and Cal (and my dad, too!) to help with our basement. It's been busy, but it's really special for eveyone to be able to spend so much time with Lucy. (Usually with little babies we kind of hole up and don't see people as much). Bruce has been in New York for most of the other kids lives, and it's been SO fun to have him know Lucy so well. 

-She gave her first big belly laugh. Was it to me? NO. It was for Uncle Bruce. He would swing her back and forth and then she'd just giggle and giggle. Nothing better than a baby laugh. 

Her siblings love her. 

-She smiles huge smiles when David is around.

A bunch of firsts heading into this holiday season! Two of which were:

-First Gardner Village trip with Melissa and Zach. She fell asleep and was so snuggly and I loved it.

-Her first Halloween!

Something funny- Her hair is starting to look red sometimes, just strawberry blondish, but it's enough that people who don't know her have said things like "Oh, look at the little ginger!" It's hilarious to us, and I really hope that she ends up being a redhead. Think of how funny it would be to introduce our children like "These are our three super-blonde towheads, and this is our youngest redhead - she has albinism." It's just humorous to think that she has albinism and is a redhead. (Interestingly, there is actually a genetic connection between red hair and a lack of pigment in the skin - it's just a funny situation if you're looking for humor in the situation. You know?) 

-She is sleeping terribly. But that's okay. Because we love her and knowing she's my last baby has given me an extra measure of patience and also enjoyment of our nights together. 

-Did I mention that these kids love her? Left is Austin, who gets in her space and just loves to be with her. Right is Lydia and Caleb (in matching jammies) trying to keep her entertained on the floor.

-She's wearing hats every day now, per the pediatrician's recommendation. She will need to wear hats outside basically everyday of her little life and having her wear hats inside will help her get used to them so she won't pull them off when she gets older and really needs to keep them on. We found some soft little fabric hats that look darling on her but sometimes they slip down over her eyes, especially when she is sleeping. It doesn't seem to bother her, usually. But it's kind of cute. 

We also were told to expect delayed milestones. If she's not seeing well, it will be hard for her to feel safe/motivated enough to crawl, etc... She hasn't rolled over yet, BUT she passed a spoon from one hand to the other hand and I was just so excited and proud of her. 

I have written about this in a separate blog post, but we were at Home Depot getting wood for our basement. I was stacking it into our car when the load slipped and fell on her carseat. I was terrified - thinking that she was hurt, smashed under the weight of the wood, but the carseat had tipped in it's spot in the car creating a safe little space for her under the wood. I sobbed for hours - but this I know - there were angels watching out for this sweet girl. There was physically no way for her to not be hurt, but she was untouched. The feeling fades with time, even within a day or so, but in the moment - I knew that there were angels that had surrounded her and helped to lift the wood from her little body. I am so incredibly grateful for the goodness of God and for his Miracles in our life. In HER life. Lucy - you are so tiny, but you've already been surrounded by many miracles.

-We like snuggling our girl. 

The sitting pictures that I have posted are a little deceiving. She's not really sitting up yet, she's got just enough balance to stay when propped - mostly. I took these darling pictures of her but she kept tipping over in the process. She was happy the whole time, and I just laughed at her.  

Okay, I couldn't narrow these pictures down - so I just decided to add them ALL at the end of the post. Because.. It's my blog, I can do what I want to. Right? And these pictures of Lucy and her Daddy are just so heart-meltingly sweet. 

Oh Lucy-Lou, we love you! 

Homeschooling through October

I feel like we've finally hit our homeschooling groove. Not at 100%, but we've figured out our new routine and we're doing pretty good. I just try to tell myself that public school teachers don't hit their groove until about October, too. There are so many routines and things that it's just normal. But we've had some great homeschooling moments. Most of them are small and quiet, in the laughter during a math lesson or under a cozy blanket while reading a book. But some of them get photographed and remembered more easily that the others.

-There is something special about being in an orchard in the middle of Fall. Picking an apple or a peach right off the tree, then sitting down in the shade and eating your hard-earned fruit? It's just SO special. We hit up an Orchard with some other homeschooling friends and the only words I have for it is magical. (I need to find another word to describe that sunshine feeling of happiness and contentment - but that's the only one I've got right now.)



Being SO excited about your new books that you can't even wait while mom checks all the books out and you sit right down to read next to the checkout station.


Homeschooling life skills is one of my favorite things. We have the time to take our peaches (that we picked), and learn how to blanch, peel, and cut them for peach jam. They may not remember the steps or the process of making jam as they get older - but they will have the confidence to work in the kitchen. (And hopefully this translates into confidence in other ways, too.)


I loved the orchard so much that we went back with David and Melissa & Blake for a Family Home Evening. It was exactly what my homeschooling heart was needing.







-We hit up Cornbellies. I had told the kids we weren't going to Cornbellies this year, so they were extra thrilled and I feel like it was mom-win for me! I wasn't sure that I would be able to manage it with all four kids by myself (Lucy is still just so little and I wouldn't be able to take a stroller.) But we try to do a field trip each week and I decided just to do it. Another homeschooling mom had set up a field trip on a Thursday so we played hookey from school. Having the flexibility to do something like that is just so nice.  The kids loved it although they all wanted to go down the big slide (which wasn't open for field trips). Caleb snuck away from me, ducked under the blockades and started up the giant set of stairs before I could grab him - but for the most part we were able to stay together and have a really nice time. 

-One of the biggest blessings of homeschool this year is that we've been able to spend every Tuesday afternoon (leaving our house about 1130 and getting home about 530) at Cal and Sue's house in West Jordan. The kids love it there, and I'm just so grateful that they are able to spend the time with their grandma (and as a bonus, their Uncle Bruce, who is living there for a while). That's been such a blessing to all of us and it just wouldn't be possible without our flexible schedule. Again, the blessing of homeschool is really TIME and Relationships.



Another example of the blessing of TIME. Just being able to play, read, be a kid, enjoy each other, learn how to be bored, learn how to have quiet time, learn what things we like and don't.

Most of the pictures I post are pictures of Lydia. But Austin is a huge part of our homeschool. His schedule was pretty heavy when we started school: Monday- Spanish, Tuesday/Thursday - Preschool, and Wednesday-Speech Class, plus Upstart (computer preschool) every day. It was a little too much for our introverted boy and he recently stopped going to spanish class. He doesn't LOVE his preschool class, but he DOES love riding his bike to and from preschool (which is just down the street). Most of the time we walk with him, but sometimes I drive while he rides his bike. That's the highlight of his day. I feel like it's important for kids to just be able to PLAY at this age and so I try to give him most of his time to be creative and enjoy his childhood. He is great at doing his family economy jobs and getting done all the items on his checklist so that he can just play. (His favorite is using the hot glue gun and craft sticks to make things.)


Painting. I've been REALLY working on making sure we incorporate art in addition to the other subjects in our schedule and it's been fun to learn and create together.




This is what our book haul from the library looks like on a fairly regular basis. #homeschoolmom



My mom is a great addition to our homeschool. Honestly, we've been so blessed with love and support from all of our family members and I'm just exceptionally grateful.


We had a tomato that was on the edge of going bad, so we decided to do a science experiment for "How many seeds are in a tomato?" It was fun and different. We incorporated math and science and it was just really fun.




And to end the month, we hosted a small Halloween/Fall co-op get together. We made a snack, read books, and each child took a turn reciting a Halloween/Fall themed poem in front of the group. It was low-key but fun. And I feel strongly about poetry and memorization and so providing this forum is important to me. #socialization


This is actually from Nov 1, but it correlates to Halloween so I thought I'd add it here. You know you're a homeschooling family when the morning after Halloween is spent counting and graphing your candy. Making predictions and then analyzing the results! I loved this.