The Thatcher Life: Busy, busy

Sawyer

Sawyer has made big progress when it comes to preschool mornings. He worked his way up to just being extra gaggy and throwing up during teeth brushing time, to telling me 3-4 times each morning he needed to throw up but breathing through it, to where we are now; which is that he tells me nightly that going to school makes him nervous but that he thinks he'll go because he likes it. His anxiety is definitely heightened in other situations because he's on edge from the school stuff but, we've come a long way in just a few weeks so we're definitely calling it a win.

The surgeon's office called a couple of days before Sawyer was supposed to have surgery and said that the doctor had a conflict and would need us to reschedule. So that's been pushed back to the end of the month. It's kind of nice, though, because now he won't miss any of his soccer season. Speaking of soccer, Sawyer was so into it his first game and definitely set our expectations high for subsequent games buuuut he's definitely not enthused when he gets out there now. He likes to make shadows, be a t-rex who growls at the other kids, pick up leaves, etc. He'll generally follow the crowd of kids but doesn't try too hard to get to the ball. All of that I would generally expect from 4-yr-old soccer but, to mine and Dillon's frustration, lately Sawyer will ask his coach if he can rest.. after playing a whole sixty seconds. And then he just asks us about the playground. He tells me that he likes playing when I ask him about it so I don't know what's up.

Sawyer has heard plenty of people comment about how Wren resembles him and, while beaming with pride, he told me the other day, "That's my baby girl. She looks like me." He's definitely got all the love for his little sister.

Dawson

Dawson thinks our backyard peach tree is just the best thing. He's been picking the peaches for weeks now (before they were ready) and Dillon and I had to explain to him that the peaches would only keep growing and be good to eat if he left them on the tree. Now that they're nice and peachy colored and ready for picking, Dawson eats about four a day.

His latest word-isms are 1) the way he's says vanilla. I need to catch it on video because I love it so much. He puts lots of emphasis on those L's and pronounces it balella. 2) when he tosses the ball for himself to hit he'll comment that it's either a good pitch (one he hits) or a bad pitch (one he misses) but it definitely does not sound like pitch.

I totally jinxed myself by observing that we had yet to have a kid who cared about the color of their plate/cup/utensils etc. and Dawson now gets whiny and tantrum-y about what color of sippy/plate/ spoon he has. And now I feel for all parents who deal with that particular toddler dilemma.

Wren

Wren's skin had a crazy freak out for awhile there with a pretty bad case of baby acne followed up/coinciding with a heat rash. Neither of them were pretty but the heat rash healed fairly quickly. The acne was so bad and lasted so long that I started googling all things related to baby allergies and was trying to decide if I was looking at a miserable dairy-free life for the foreseeable future. But the worst of it seems to be clearing up and turning back into normal skin.

She is all grins when people talk to her, especially Dillon and me. And she tries so hard to make noises when we're giving her attention. They're so breathy right now and I love them. She's been able to get out the occasional baby coo but it's mostly deep, throaty breaths. She only wakes up once a night now (hopefully that sticks) and it is just so much more manageable. She has really started to favor having her head turned to the right so I've been trying to prop her the other way and do some neck stretches like I did with Dawson. Wren doesn't seem to appreciate it too much but she'll thank me later when she doesn't have a crooked head with a weird flat spot.

Dillon

Dillon's been trying to figure stuff out with our insurance. I noticed some things that didn't seem to line up with our claims, deductible, and out of pocket. When I called the company they said that that is in fact how our insurance works (even though we've been on the same plan for years and this is not what happened when we had Dawson). So Dillon's been trying to figure more stuff out with people at work and their specific insurance representative. It's all just so annoying. The way they're trying to work it will end up costing us thousands more than we were planning on, which... sucks. I always try really hard to make sure I have the details of our coverage hammered out so we can save and hopefully be set but I swear there are always weird loopholes and hidden rules that insurance doesn't bother to tell you about until after the fact.

We both were due for eye exams and new contacts so we went in together and decided to brave taking all three kids with us. They were ALL angelic and it was the best feeling ever. Dillon's eyes stayed the exact same and mine managed to improve since last year. I didn't know eyes did that? But apparently it can be a thing.

DaNae

I've reached the point in my postpartum journey where I just feel very aware of my squish and how much I still look five months pregnant. My brain knows that it hasn't even been two months since delivery, it really does. But I always get to this point where I feel like I need to wear I sign that reads, 'Just had a baby.' It's not so much a matter of weight, really, but more the shape that my body still is. It's just... squishy ha. Dillon's good at reminding me to be gentle with myself and give it time. He really is the best there is.

I've started to feel like I'm drowning in the busy-ness of our lives. It's a good kind of busy. I'm still very grateful for my kiddos and feel pretty positive overall but the endless needs that occur between the three of them during their waking hours have made it almost impossible to keep up with the cleaning, and laundry, and mundane (but very necessary) household things. And though I have lowered my expectations for the sake of my sanity, lately it feels like it's gotten pretty out of hand. It will all come together (at least a bit more) as it always does and I'll just walk through my house with tunnel vision for now ha.

Picture his teacher took and shared.

Her first pair of shoes.. that she'll never wear again because they don't stay on ha.

"Look, Mom! A lizard!"

Grasshopper. Lizard. Close.

Rocking with Grandma.

First soccer game!

The weather was pretty stormy but those kids (and parents) powered through.

Getting in it to get the ball a couple of times..

And having plenty of goofy moments. This is ninja time during a break.

More silliness.

He's getting way too big for this but my dad still obliges him. Perching like a parrot on Grandpa Dale is one of Sawyer's favorites.

Sweet baby snuggles when she still slept hard in this position.

And again the next day. I'm totally in the same shirt... it's fine.

Hanging out in Grandma and Grandpa's unfinished sink.

Playing outside with this one for a minute after Sawyer's bus came and went.

How Wren and I do gymnastics with Dawson.

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Somersaulting like a pro.

A spider hat he made at school.

New glow in the dark sports balls from Aunt Andee.

Her sad skin that just took turns flaring up in different spots for days and days. This was on the tail end when it actually started to look better.