This week I am documenting a week in our lives along with the Ali Edwards community. Here are some photos and words about yesterday, if you’d like to see…

Picking up from yesterday, I came back to my own bed at 2:00 a.m. Liam woke up so I had to nurse him. He woke up again at 5:00 a.m. to nurse. I really wanted to get up before the kids to do my morning routine, but by the time Liam settled back asleep it was 6 and that’s usually the time I start getting ready. But I really wanted to do my Bible study, so I made coffee and packed a lunch and then sat for ten minutes to do it.

I’ve been doing the study No Other Gods by Kelly Minter and then Voxing about it with my friend Lauren. I like it; the daily homework is shorter than Beth Moore studies and there are no group video sessions that I’m missing out on by doing it myself. So it’s good to find a new Bible study author that I like since I’ve done almost all of Beth Moore’s!

The kids were still asleep and I was running later than usual, so I rushed through making breakfast. While my skillet was heating up I heard Meredith calling for me. I went into my room and they were both awake. She started crying because she wanted me to hold her. I don’t know what it is that sets her crying sometimes, but after a few minutes she was happy again. I put her on the couch with Liam to watch TV while I finished breakfast, but Liam leaked out of his diaper. I changed him and brought him into the bathroom with me. River (the cat) entertained him. It’s a love/hate relationship between Liam and the cats. :)

We left on time and again I gave Liam his backpack to wear once we got to daycare. He even hung it on his hook. We are supposed to sign the kids in and out each day and I do try to sign them in, but we are bad about signing out.

At work again and my coworker Jenny was there with me. We had a regular day of patients planned, but two of them ended up cancelling. In total we had six.

Lunch break. I always read while I eat lunch. This is what I bring most days to eat.

We finished up our patients around 2:30 and I went for my walk around hospital campus. It had been raining a lot of the day, but it had stopped at this point. So nice to have cooler temperatures.

I left work twenty minutes early and went home to rest for a bit. I finished my book!

David and I met at daycare; I got there a few minutes before him. All the kids had been put into one room so when I stepped inside Meredith saw me and said, “Look! Liam is here!” Then she began asking over and over, “Where are we going to go? Where? Where Mommy?” She is always looking to the next thing, not content to just sit and be. When David got there she ran to him and said, “Daddy, I wanna go with you!!” They went to the grocery store because I had run out of eggs. Meanwhile, I took Liam home.

He nursed for awhile and I started a new book, then it was snack time. Pears and Canadian bacon. When he was done, he held out his bowl and said, “Mo! Mo!” so I gave him another bowl of pears. He still wanted more after that and since David and Meredith weren’t home yet, I heated up five frozen meatballs for him, which he ate. Later he ate more pear, a PB&J sandwich, and a slice of cheese. Yeah, this kid can eat and his favorite thing is meat.

It was a difficult evening, actually. Meredith for some reason was very emotional and was crying over every little thing, or crying over nothing. We had to send her to her room several times where we heard a lot of screaming. It also didn’t take me very long to lose my patience. These tantrums of hers were a daily thing for much of age three, but they have been fewer and farther between for which I am so grateful.

Oh, and we just had sandwiches for dinner and half of us ate on the couch.

To get things calmed down we had to divide and conquer. I got Liam ready for bed and sent him off with David for his nighttime ride. Liam loves it and is always glad to go.

Meredith was crying for something else to eat, so after some intense discussion we settled on some yogurt and a granola bar. She brought it back to my bathroom to eat at her little vanity while I got ready for bed. She had to bring three spoons with her.

I made the rounds of the house and turned off lights and put things away. The cats were settling down for the night.

Finally, Meredith and I went to her room. She “cleaned up” a few of her toys which was really just an excuse to play with them a bit before bed. She was really stalling and I had to get stern with her before she finally picked books to read. It also took her a really long time to settle down for sleep and I was on the verge of leaving her alone in her room for a break. Sigh.

Thoughts about today: it was another pretty normal one for us. Nightly baths don’t seem to be happening like I planned for them to, but that’s okay. Some serious meal planning needs to happen this weekend. And hopefully tomorrow the emotions will have settled down. :)