Five things that are making me happy today:

1. Sick hellmonkeys who are ever so slowly starting to feel better.

2. A warm fire while it's so very cold outside.

3. A mug of hot tea.

4. A baby who has finally decided to give in to sleep.

5. A fridge full of meals from generous friends.

So sleepy today. But the dishes are done, the kitchen is clean, hellmonkeys are fed, diapers are washed and a load of sheets is in the washer now. I think I'm going to curl up in front of the fire for a while and rest.

So I have a sleeping baby in my lap, the other hellmonkeys went to bed long ago, and it's quiet in my room. I have a cup of my current favorite tea, vanilla honey chamomile, sitting next to me, and the laptop here with me. The only way this could be more perfect would be if I had yarn. But alas, our financial situation is pretty woeful at the moment, so yarn is something of a pipe dream for me right now as I try to figure out how to keep groceries in the house after this month is up. (A dear, dear friend has arranged for friends and acquaintances to bring us meals regularly in the wake of the little one's birth, which has been a positively serendipitous reprieve.)

My future in-laws are in town for a couple of days, and they came over tonight to coo over the baby and lavish attention on the other three. They're so sweet, and the older kids just adore them. The visit was rather spur of the moment (they're in the process of moving from a city 12 hours away from us in one direction to a city 3 hours away from us in the other, and are staying here on their way from the old home to the new), but it motivated me to do a bit of cleaning that's been neglected since I gave birth.

He's such a happy, mellow baby, in arms. Of course this makes keeping up with the cleaning/older kids a bit of a struggle, but I'm working on it. He's out like a light every time I tuck him into the moby wrap, so he rides around in that a fair amount in the mornings. My freakishly short carnie arms make it hard to do dishes with him wrapped around the front, but we're managing. He'll be big enough to ride on my back all too soon, so I need to enjoy this while I can.

We have a spot of our own, this baby and I, in a rocking chair beside the woodburning stove, and nearly every night we spend one of the smallest hours of the morning there, rocking and snuggling, and sometimes sipping tea. (Tea for me, that is, all he sips is breastmilk.)

I took baby and Next to Youngest to the grocery store today, in some rather sketchy weather, to restock a few staples that were running low and get me out of the house for a bit. Now that my pregnancy is over, and with it the deep exhaustion, I'd like to start doing a lot more cooking and baking from scratch, and hopefully cut down on our grocery bills in the process. I've been reading up on recipes for homemade cheese, butter and yogurt, and I definately want to try them out, along with starting to make my own breads and rolls again.

The older two and I have been sorting out our Waldorf supplies and cleaning/rearranging the dining room and getting ready to pick back up with our Waldorf-inspired homeschooling in two weeks. They're both very excited about it. Eldest asks me to read her the curriculum plan daily. I never dreamed that they'd become nearly as passionate about Waldorf as I am, and it thrills me to death.

Baby's stirring... I'll end this here for now.

Newest Baby

He was born on February 8, at 2:15 pm, into his mama's hands after a lovely, long labor surrounded by friends and family and running, laughing children. A full birth story will follow soon, but for now, I don't want to look away from him long enough to write it.

41 weeks and still pregnant, and desperately in need of a blog update, I think. ;-)

We had some dear friends up for a visit last week, hoping that the baby would make its arrival while they were here, but after missing a week of school, they had to head home. I think this is how all my babies have gone, though I've never been so sure of my dates before, so I can't say for certain. With the last two, I had a vague two week window and they tended to come at the end of that (and at the beginning of the month), so I'm thinking this little one is falling right in line.

Whatever she/he's doing in there, she/he's staying active for sure. It's been hard to sleep with all the gymnastics going on at night, and I've found myself bouncing on the birth ball just to get baby to doze off again. It's funny how we can soothe these little ones to sleep before they're even earthside.

I took the older kids to Target yesterday. They got Christmas gift cards from their lovely aunt and uncle in California, and we'd been waiting until the baby came to use them. (It was going to be a special day out with grandma and grandpa.) But I need something to keep me busy, so we went. Middle Boy picked out a Tamagotchi, which he's been coveting for a very, very long time, Youngest got a beautiful wooden music box with a spinning ballerina inside, and Eldest chose Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium (which was very cute) and a package of pixie stix.

So here I am, back to waiting, and trying to keep my hands busy. What I wouldn't give for more yarn at the moment. I've almost worked through my entire stash in the past week.