The Saturday 7

1. On Monday, I went to the doctor to discuss my depression meds. I actually feel like they haven't been working well for the past year and a half. But I was pregnant for a large part of that time, so I was hesitant to blame my emotions on the meds. I'd finally decided I'd had enough, though, and set up an appointment with my doctor. She agreed with me, based on some of my symptoms that my current meds aren't working as well as they should, so she switched me to Zoloft (which is even safer for breastfeeding than what I was already on). I share this hesitantly, because people have strong opinions about depression meds and I'm too fragile to handle criticism well. Lol. But I've been vocal about my depression in the past and want to continue. It's still there. I still fight it often. And give into it often. But I'm hoping the new meds will make a difference. The doctor told me to give it a couple weeks to start feeling effects. So hopefully by this time next week, I'll be looking like this:

2. Lena started Cubbies at church this week. It's part of the Wednesday night AWANA program. Lucy's been going for two years, but this was the first year Lena was old enough. I really didn't know what to expect. She's historically a mama's girl who does not deal well with being away from me. But she really wanted to go to AWANA like Lucy, and it's in the same classroom/with the same kids as her Sunday morning church class, so she's already semi-familiar with it. She did great! She was nervous when I dropped her off, and got a little clingy, but I just brushed her off and ran out the door before she could completely lose her mind. Afterward, the teacher (who had Lucy two years ago) said she couldn't believe how much more Lena talks than Lucy did. Haha. So apparently she warmed up quickly. And she's already asked me roughly 400 times when she can go back. Win!

3. I am so frustrated lately with my kids and bedtime. I just don't understand where I have failed as a parent. Does everyone else deal with this? I feel like my friends put their kids to bed, and the kids go to sleep. I put my kids to bed and they come downstairs and/or call for me 3,472 times before actually falling asleep an hour or more after bedtime started!!!!! I must not be totally alone, because other people have made memes that pretty much sum up my night from about 8-9:30.

4. Last year, I came across this "Write 31" thing in the blogging community. You choose a topic and blog about it for 31 straight days for the month of October. I kind of want to do it, but I can't think of anything worth writing about for 31 days in a row. Haha. I've thought of "31 Verses that Have Ministered to Me," but that's just going to get preachy. I thought of "31 Things I Want My Kids to Know," but that's going to be sappy and unoriginal. And I doubt I can come up with 31 things. Or maybe, "31 of my Favorite Books." Boring. How about "31 Days of Poems Dedicated to Food?" (Dr Pepper, How I Love thee; thy bubbly goodness brings me glee . . .) Or "31 Reasons Not to Have any More Babies" . . . followed closely by "31 Reasons Newborns are So Worth It." Hmmmm, time to put my thinking cap on . . . Stay tuned . . .

5. I've noticed lately that Lucy can't just play with toys. She has to have a narrative to go along with whatever she's doing. For instance, this afternoon the girls were playing on the jungle gym. Lucy can't just climb on it and go down the slide like a normal kid. She has to create a story. "Hey Lena, let's pretend that these are challenges. We're at challenge school and we have to practice every day. We've been here for two weeks and we're on level two already. I'm on challenge four, but you're only on challenge three. Ok, I'm going to climb up this like this and then I get to move on to the next challenge . . ." I'm pretty sure I was exactly the same way, so she comes by it honestly. It's probably great for her brain - and great for Lena, too.

6. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon volunteering at Lucy's school. Someone had a connection with a retired teacher from another school (in another state) who was looking to donate all of her children's books. Oh.My.Word. The books, people! The books! Boxes and boxes and boxes of thousands upon thousands of free books! I could have sat on that gym floor sorting books for the next three years! Our job was just to get the books out of boxes and displayed on tables so the teachers could look through them and take what they wanted. It took ten of us 2 hours and we used every empty table the school could find. And then they told us we could take whatever we wanted! Hold me back! It took everything within me to keep myself to a reasonable amount. (20 books is reasonable, right?) Seriously, people. It was my dream come true. I adore children's books. We already own thousands. We're already out of shelf space. But I can't help myself. I'm a bibliophile. I need more.

6. And now enjoy a few pictures from our week:

Little poser

He can move! Only backwards. And only when he's really mad. Haha. (He scooted himself off the playmat.)

Getting a lot better at sitting up!

Sitting in the big-boy high chair for the first time. (And being accosted by Lena, as usual.)

Love. (One of my free books. And an awesome one that is totally perfect for me! Check it out!)