Wednesday Thoughts

1. After months of working on bedtime with Esther, she finally got enough stickers to earn her fairy house. She was so excited to finally get it and so sweet to share it with Adele and L. It came with real seeds to plant and she's been diligently watering them. I love her and her love of fairies.

2. Adjusting to life with 4 kids has been interesting. My first outing with 4 by myself was to the nature center. We were the only ones there and I just follow after the girls while they explore. L is great about sitting in the stroller so that made things easier. Things got a little dicey when I took them all to the children's museum, but we somehow made it home in one piece. 

3. We aren't allowed to post photos of foster children on social media so I have to block out L's face. Which is kind of sad and makes me inclined to not want to put pictures of her at all online, but I don't want to leave her out of the pictures either. I'm not sure what is best. Anyways for now here are some pictures from our adventures lately. 

4. Speaking of social media, I have jumped on the bandwagon and I'm taking a week break from social media. Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for me. I have been wanting to take a break for a while and getting an invitation from a prophet seemed like a great time. I'm only 3/7 days through it but so far I've learned that I use social media to de-stress way too often and that I don't think social media is entirely bad. I'm pretty picky about who I follow and for the most part my instagram feed is really uplifiting and inspiring to me. Being a young stay at home mom can be super lonely and it has been great for me to be able to connect to other moms who "get it". I do know that I spend way too much time on there though, especially in front of the kids, so the break was definitely needed. I don't want to miss out on moments with my kids because I'm on my phone all the time. I hope the break will help me find a good balance when I'm done. 

5. Poor sweet Adele. I feel like this transition has been hardest on her. She absolutely loves L and Israel. In fact, she introduces L to everyone as her sister and I don't even want to think about how sad she'll be when she leaves. As for Israel, she also loves him but is so rough with him. She pulls on his head until he unlatches when I'm trying to feed him, wakes him up any time she sees him asleep, and is basically smothering him with hugs 24/7. I know she is just two and I try to be patient with her but I feel like I'm harping on her to stop all day long. It is hard on our relationship and I really don't know what to do. I have been trying to spend one on one time with her more and play with her more and I'm hoping that starts helping soon.  

6. Last but not least, Baby Israel. He is starting to "wake up" more now and it has made this last week harder when he won't sleep unless I'm holding him. Luckily he sleeps well in the wrap. He is almost 4 weeks old now and I'm just so sad at how fast the newborn stage goes. It takes 9 months to grow a baby then they go and outgrow their newborn clothes in only 2 weeks ha. He is already over 10lbs and chunking up nicely. I am excited to see him as he grows and I know he'll be cute at any stage. There is just something special about newborns that I really love.