After working long and hard to get Terah down for a nap, I was cuddled up with her in the recliner ready to enjoy some writing time, reflecting on recent days. It was not to be, I guess. Terah's had one great nap this morning, a short nap on our hike, and now another short nap since our return. Not sure how this evening will go. But since we lose an hour tonight, maybe all the better if she is ready to bed down early tonight. Yes, I'm trying to find the silver lining in the cloud. I sometimes wonder why I attempt to make plans these days, even little ones. The girls are hoping for snacks and games this evening but I feel like the clock is already ticking on the time we'll have with Terah content. For now, we are outside at the swing-set and she is watching Kali and Alida swing, while she swings in the baby swing. She put herself to sleep the other day for the first time while swinging, so seemed at least worth a little more rest time for her...
It's been touch and go the last few days in terms of Terah's mood, and, closely connected to that, mine. We had a few days where I was feeling like we had a content and happy baby who was oodles of fun to have around. I was seeing a groove of sorts emerge and I must admit it felt good! Then we hit another rough spot - a night of being awoken every hour or so, more fussiness during the day and difficulty napping well, and what seemed to be some intestinal discomfort. The source? That is what I'd love to figure out. The only change I noted in my diet was the evening before the bad night and real fussy day I had gotten inspired to make homemade peanut butter from our peanuts. Delicious! I had not had peanuts in quite some time (we ran out of peanut butter and remember our Lent commitment to not buy food...). I've noticed that when I eat a hearty serving of peanuts or peanut butter I don't feel good. So, whether or not those yummy morsels are the culprit, I'm off them 100% for now. My next suspicion is dairy and while I've stopped drinking milk and have had very little cheese, I have not gone all the way and eliminated butter, yogurt and things that have a little milk in them. I'm more than ready to do so if we isolate that as the cause. If things don't improve a lot in the coming days, I may take the plunge once I'm sure the peanuts are out of my system and not the sole cause of her distress. It's so frustrating to feel like something must be bothering her and she wants to be happy but just has to complain about it.
But let me not dwell on the negative any longer. My intentions for writing today was due more to feeling a lot of gratitude: for lots of fresh air and outdoor time this week, for getting to help seed and water lettuce, for a family hike to the lake today, for all the things sprouting and blooming, for happy chickens and ducks providing us with dozens of delicious eggs on a daily basis, for flowers reminding us of Nora, for family work times and play times, for delicious and nutrient dense food in abundance, for amazing daughters and a wonderful partner in this life we are living. There is so, so much I feel thankful for and want to keep those things at the forefront of my mind, even when the frustrations of daily schedules gone awry seem to take over my emotions, at least momentarily.
Here's a snippet of one of our outdoor times recently, followed by some of my favorite images of recent days:
Kali doesn't want to miss ANY gardening - we must remember as she gets sad if Jason buzzes out to try to sneak a little in and doesn't let her know. I love seeing her out working in the garden, with her ducks close by! She's hoping to start collecting hatching eggs for ducklings soon. Have I mentioned loving this time of year?
The chickens are loving being out and about right now. They are clearly benefiting from the bugs coming out and the grass growing, and in turn so are we as the yolks deepen in color and we ingest more omega-3's all the time! Thanks chickens...And first candling on the eggs in the incubator showed great fertility - we candle the second bunch tonight.
The first blooming daffodils in Nora's garden. I love seeing her garden come to life! She is on my mind often right now as Terah reminds us a lot more of Nora than Alida ever did. Some of her physical features are more similar, but especially some of her sounds. The other night someone mistakenly called her Nora and I find that very sweet.
The girls (including Terah) would gladly eat outside whenever possible. We've had two picnics so far with more to come. But Alida is already getting large itchy bug bites. Argh! No pavilion being constructed this year and we are likely not purchasing a screened gazebo either. We are now contemplating a screened tent to put over our table or the kiddie pool to enable more eating and playing outside bug-free (and for a fraction of the cost). We'll see...
The amazing daughters I mentioned! We enjoyed a lovely hike to the lake today, complete with Jason and I having good conversations (uninterrupted) about our life and future hopes and dreams. So good when we have time to actually talk! And love how I feel like when we come together and get to share our recent musings, they line up so well together. In short, we both really want to keep getting better at what we love doing here on our homestead, and we keep exploring ways to make that possible!
But turn your back on our eldest and she will find a tree to climb.
I do rest a little more easily when her two feet are firmly on the ground. I have to just say again what an amazing gal she is! I chuckled the other day when my parents were here and Kali was working on algebra in our part of the house. I mentioned she was welcome to go up with them to visit since they were only around for a short time. She happily went but first noted that she wanted to finish her algebra problem. Yes, that's my daughter doing algebra for the sheer fun of it!
Some of Jason's recent grafting work. Let's here it for (hopefully) lots more fruit in our future.
We even got a few WV apple varieties and a pear one to give a try. Time will tell...
Enjoying a short and rare gardening stint. Rare, clearly, from the fact that my legs were sore the next day from squatting and standing over and over while seeding a small area with Terah on my front. Gotta get back into shape!
One of my favorite sights when I look outside - happy birds and happy husband , as well as the promise of amazing food just weeks or months down the road. We will have our first fresh spinach salad tomorrow and more will soon follow.
After working long and hard to get Terah down for a nap, I was cuddled up with her in the recliner ready to enjoy some writing time, reflecting on recent days. It was not to be, I guess. Terah's had one great nap this morning, a short nap on our hike, and now another short nap since our return. Not sure how this evening will go. But since we lose an hour tonight, maybe all the better if she is ready to bed down early tonight. Yes, I'm trying to find the silver lining in the cloud. I sometimes wonder why I attempt to make plans these days, even little ones. The girls are hoping for snacks and games this evening but I feel like the clock is already ticking on the time we'll have with Terah content. For now, we are outside at the swing-set and she is watching Kali and Alida swing, while she swings in the baby swing. She put herself to sleep the other day for the first time while swinging, so seemed at least worth a little more rest time for her...
It's been touch and go the last few days in terms of Terah's mood, and, closely connected to that, mine. We had a few days where I was feeling like we had a content and happy baby who was oodles of fun to have around. I was seeing a groove of sorts emerge and I must admit it felt good! Then we hit another rough spot - a night of being awoken every hour or so, more fussiness during the day and difficulty napping well, and what seemed to be some intestinal discomfort. The source? That is what I'd love to figure out. The only change I noted in my diet was the evening before the bad night and real fussy day I had gotten inspired to make homemade peanut butter from our peanuts. Delicious! I had not had peanuts in quite some time (we ran out of peanut butter and remember our Lent commitment to not buy food...). I've noticed that when I eat a hearty serving of peanuts or peanut butter I don't feel good. So, whether or not those yummy morsels are the culprit, I'm off them 100% for now. My next suspicion is dairy and while I've stopped drinking milk and have had very little cheese, I have not gone all the way and eliminated butter, yogurt and things that have a little milk in them. I'm more than ready to do so if we isolate that as the cause. If things don't improve a lot in the coming days, I may take the plunge once I'm sure the peanuts are out of my system and not the sole cause of her distress. It's so frustrating to feel like something must be bothering her and she wants to be happy but just has to complain about it. 
No comments:
Post a Comment