September 16, 2010

To sum it up...


September has been good to us so far. Perfect weather, blissful and peaceful atmosphere at home, kids who help and listen, heartwarming meals every day... Well, scratch the last 3, but the weather is sure nice.

This past month and a half have been much harder than the first 2 months after Ivy was born, mostly because Anya stopped napping and the whole afternoon routine was shattered into pieces. To sum it up, now there's no 'quiet' or nap time. But there's plenty of loud, make-as-much-noise-as-possible-while-Ivy-is-sleeping time. Which translates into: me, frantically making lunch while Ivy is napping and the other kids throwing their requests at me (I think I grow 3 invisible arms during lunch time, just to keep up with the madness), then me trying to send kids downstairs to play so I can clean up after them and have a bite to eat (read: BREAKFAST), and ultimately, failing at the last task, because Ivy wakes up from all the noise in the kitchen. Afternoons are a blur after that...

Despite all the chaos, those 3 imps manage to melt my heart every day in one way or the other. And then they make me pay for it with another blur of a day...

So speaking of September...

What a perfect month for getting back into the bread baking groove. Kalach never tasted better (maybe because I never accidentally overdosed on butter until this last time)


Elijah got his first black (or green and yellow?) eye from close encounter of the third kind with a very aggressive door knob. Bad door knob, bad.


...and then he got his second ever haircut by grandpa. Both times without parent's (mine) consent. At least this time I can still recognize my son :)


Speaking of hair, Anya let me make her first pony tail ever. It was sloppy and all, and my hands were shaking from disbelief, but I did it, that's what matters (and I left it in for 2 days, not knowing if she'd ever let me put her hair into a pony tail again)


and here's her signature hair:


Ivy's been growing like a weed. Rolling over from time to time for the past 3 weeks, laughing and giggling for just as long (and Maya is a pro at making her laugh), sucking on her fists like it's the best tasting food in the world and just plain growing way faster than I can admit to myself. I think she'll get her driver's license sooner than I will.




(this one would look cute as a driver's license photo)

And Maya... This girls amazes me with her creativity and curiosity as much as she amazes me with her talent to test my patience to the limit. She's a true gem - Maya with a Y. And here's the peaceful side of her, reading Charlotte's Web from start to finish in just a couple of hours (priceless, peaceful hours).




As for me, I'm trying to keep my sanity by consuming insane amounts of chocolate (hey, if I'm gaining weight while nursing anyway, I might as well make it fun, right?) and producing impressive amounts of knitwear. Can my life get any better?





5 comments:

Amy said...

Your photos absolutely GLOW, Olya.

That first paragraph was hilarious.

Nicole said...

Olya, you are truly inspiring! Your life is beautiful. You. Your dreads. Your babies. Your knitting. Your pictures. Your family.

Miranda @ Pressing On said...

Love this. I appreciate your zest for life and your kids. I need to get back into making bread. It's such a blessing to have homemade bread.

Ivy is getting so big. Well, all of them are. Time goes too fast.

Anonymous said...

Olya, Clay and I were talking about the new people at church today and said that you guys seemed neat. Then he said when he talked to you that you had thought we seemed familiar... that made me remember that there was an Olya that commented on my blog and hey, it's you! And we're neighbors and in the same ward! How lovely:) We'll have to have your family over for dinner some time; we'd love to get to know you better.
~Amy

Ariana Sullivan said...

I didn't get the sarcasm in the first paragraph at first and I was sitting here like, oh WOW she's lucky to have had such a wonderful month with obedient children! lol

I love Anya's hair so much! She has the best hair I've ever seen. So fun! And I really love the pony tail, too!

I can't believe grandpa cut Elijah's hair without permission!! I'd be so upset!

I'm surprised to read that Maya tests your patience. I guess it's hard to tell in pictures how a child really is because she always seems so calm in pictures! It makes me feel better knowing there are challenges with the good.

My girls haven't heard Charlotte's Web since last winter. Your pretty pictures are inspiring me to pull it off the shelf soon!