1.  Y’all.  I’m tired.  Really tired.  Four kids is no joke.  I feel good, but sooooo tired.  Most nights I’m sitting in the big white chair in my living room with heavy eyelids before the kids are even thinking of going to bed.  I’m ashamed to admit how many times I’ve missed tucking them in to bed because I’ve already fallen asleep by the time their heads hit their pillows in the last few weeks.  Last night, I gave up the fight to stay awake, I grabbed Duder at 8:01 pm and we went to snuggle in my bed knowing full well I wasn’t getting back up to be productive.  Good thing I did, Jonah had a rough night at 12 and then was up from 3 am to sunrise when my day needed to start.  I was on my own with the baby since I’d promised Jase he could get some much needed sleep so he could function at work after being in full on Daddy mode all weekend long with all 4 while I worked.  I think it is easy for me to forget that I’m still recovering and just had a baby 4 weeks ago, because I do feel so good.  And I’ve been working a crazy amount of hours the last few weeks.  I really can’t complain, Jonah is a very good baby, has maybe one really fussy day per week and sleeps in 4-6 hour stretches.  Our other kids didn’t do that this young, not even close.  But I’m tired, and still recovering and it’s catching up with me.  So why on earth am I up at midnight writing this?  Because it is quiet in my house.  And I’m longing for quiet moments to myself right now….they’ve been few and far between.  Quiet all except the new Phillip Phillips album pouring out of my itunes.  Love it.  Good stuff.

2.  Jonah gained almost 2 lbs in his first 30 days.  Crazy!  I love all the chub, rubber band wrists, dimpled elbows and the extra chin.  We are starting to get social smiles out of him and it’s so much fun to get to know him.  We’re learning all of his fun little ways and preferences and his personality.  I may be really freaking tired, but I love these newborn days so very much.  I caught a few smiles with my iphone this morning.  Duder photo bombed us too….love them.

3. Hypothetically.  If a four year old boy was sleepwalking after a quick afternoon nap and managed to pee IN the dishwasher, how would one clean said dishwasher?  Would vinegar be enough?  Tea tree oil ok?  Cause I’d like to run out and buy a new dishwasher.  You know, hypothetically, of course.

4.  The difference between having 3 and 4 kids…at least for me…is that I now feel the need to count them.  When we leave the house, when we get in the car, when we are out in public.  I’ve resisted the urge to go all Christina Yang on them and assign numbers.  But boy would that be easier right about now lol!

5.  I feel so behind on so many things.  Birth announcements?  Haven’t given it a thought yet.  Writing Jonah’s birth story?  Haven’t started it yet.  Family Christmas cards?  Huh?  What?!  See #1.

6.  Ty channeled his inner elf this past weekend and decorated the outside of our house for Christmas.  I think he did an awesome job.  Lights on the house, in the yard, the tree, on the bushes.  The little kids love it and Jonah could stare at the lights for hours if we let him.  It’s throwing me off though because we still have all our fall decorations up in the house.  I need to tackle that this week, cause it’s driving me nuts.

7.  I have started to think about Christmas gifts!  I’m so very thankful we are doing the 4 gift thing again this year:  want, wear, need, read.  Keeps it super simple and makes it easy to shop.  Although my sweet Duder is working the system.  He brought me a toy catalogue the other day and pointed to a pair of spy goggles.  He very clearly pointed out he would like to “WEAR” them.  Stinker.

8.  We had a great Thanksgiving.  We put off our big meal and celebration by one day so that Jason’s parents could join us.  It was so great to have them here and we had so much food.  We bought our organic turkey from Smith & Smith Farms this year and we ended up with a huge bird – 27 lbs.  It just barely fit in my over y’all, it was BIG!  We have tons of leftovers and have been loving turkey, veggie, quinoa soup.  I was really glad that I had blogged the details of our Thanksgiving meal last year, it made meal planning so super easy this year.  It was great to have Jason’s parents here, grandpa had yet to meet Jonah.  My favorite moment was watching him read to Duder, Taryn and Jonah, all 3 on his lap.  And my inlaws celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary while they were here.  Love them!

9.  I’m really itching to get back in to the gym.  I’d lost all my pregnancy weight at 1 week postpartum, but of course I have a lot more to lose and nothing seems like it sits where it used to.  It’s nice to have my body back to a certain extent.  I can’t detox while nursing but I’m so anxious to get to work on myself again now that Jonah has arrived.  Work and my crazy hours should slow down just about the time I can get back to working out and in the gym so that’s good timing.  Can’t wait!  And after gaining 60 lbs with the first 3 kids can I just say how freaking nice it is to not have that going on this time.  It was hard to eat right during this pregnancy but the rewards are so awesome.

10.  Taryn lost another tooth.  It was barely hanging on while Jason’s parents were in town.  Grandpa mentioned that the going rate for the tooth fairy was $8 per tooth.  I quickly told Taryn that Grandpa must have connections with the tooth fairy because the tooth fairy I know only pays $1.25 per tooth.  I told her it’d be a good idea to go ahead and yank that bad boy out while Grandpa was in town given he has such good connections.  And she did.  And he left a shiny $10 bill on my desk to cover it.  Grandpa is awesome like that.  Only her daddy forgot and left her two $1 bills.  She promptly asked me for the other $6.  Stinker.  I seem to be raising an entire house of them!