I got to go to the store by myself today!

My kids--all 3 of them--slept all night last night until after 7:00 this morning. You can't hear it right now, but the Hallelujah chorus is playing. I hope it wasn't just an amazing fluke. We have started giving Toby a bottle before bed instead of nursing him (again!). It seems to really help with him sleeping longer. We could probably do food instead, but the bottle puts him to sleep in addition to filling him up and that makes me a happy mama. We were just giving him the free samples of formula we had gotten after he was born, but I read the ingredient list on the last one and almost had a panic attack. They were almost all gone SO, I went out and bought some Earth's Best formula, which was the best choice between Wal-Mart and Kroger in Danville. It's got to be better than all the crap in the other ones. If you don't know this about Toby, he LOVES food. All food, all the time. I am dead serious. He would eat every hour, maybe every half hour if I offered. I have been nursing him about 5 times a day, and giving him breakfast, lunch and supper, and maybe something else if other people in the house happen to be eating when he's not. By 9:00 I am SO tired of feeding this child!!! Sleep already! Hopefully the bottle is the trick. The first night we gave him one, I cried, though! I had never seen him take a bottle before because he only takes one when I am not around. I just couldn't believe how big he has gotten.


Stealing something from Teresa's blog--Lydia has our quote of the day. I told her not to throw her baby because she might knock someone out with it, so she said, "I'll just SEND her." as she proceeded to do exactly what she was doing before. A little bit more gently than before but still... I just couldn't do anything but crack up.


After nap time, (what would my life be like without scheduled nap time?!) I have special snuggle time with each one as they wake up. It is just one of my very favorite times of the day. I think it is Isaiah's favorite time of the day too. He cannot get ungrumpy without snuggle time. We had good snuggle time today.


This week I am fixing half of the Arnold thanksgiving meal! I'm so excited to show off my from scratch culinary skills. I am cooking the sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn casserole, sweet potato pie, a cheesecake--my first one from scratch, and if I have any more time I may think of a couple more things. Nathan's sister Trina is cooking the turkey, macaroni, green beans, and some apple dumplings, and probably more. Nathan's Momaw will bring the yeast rolls (YUM!) and no telling what else. Then we will go on to my grandparent's house for another round of the same foods, only I don't cook anything for that one.


We are trying to keep the thermostats very low in our house this winter. We are doing pretty well! I was worried about the kids at first, but we are finally getting the hang of staying warm without the heat. Last night I made some rice and bean warmers for the bed and our bodies. Odd baby socks make pretty great hand warmers. This is what is going to get us through the winter. Before these we just talked about maybe setting the thermostats back, but now we pile the covers on and keep sweatshirts on and sometimes hats. My perpetually naked children are learning to keep their clothes on. Isaiah actually put his socks on without out my urging the other day. Lydia is harder to keep clothes on, but at least she usually has pants on now. That has been a battle....

Also, I bought a whole bunch of new crochet needles today and some new yarn to make Christmas presents! I had time to briskly go through the craft section today, because I was by myself. Nathan was working from home while the kids were napping. It was kind of fun not to be talked out of that 5th ball of yarn. (I love that my husband is so good at keeping us within our limits at the store, but still, it was nice to not have "direction" today!)

We got Netflix this week since we are getting rid of the tv--haha. It is so bad! We have the movies on demand on our computer. Nathan JUST said as I was typing, "DO you wanna watch a movie?" This is ruining the progress we have made in the "watching" department...Ah, but we love it. I have been on a documentary craze. Business of Being Born (loved it), My Kid Could Paint That (so so), and I have a few more on the queue. We also watched a good one called The Amish: A People of Preservation. We were surprised the Amish allowed all the video, but we really liked that one.

Good times at the Arnold homestead this week. Gotta go watch a movie! :)