so many times recently I've thought - I want to blog about that...and then when I have a little 'spare' time I really don't feel like blogging. I've been so tired lately (this whole year counts as 'lately') that I've been sleeping while the kids have nap time, even tho it conflicts with my desire to use that time to get things done. I've worked out I must be one of those people who need 8hrs sleep each night to fully function...ha ha ha, so it'll be a while before I'm fully functioning again hey!

Despite my issues with sleep deprivation, life is good.

God is good, and that makes the difference.

(a quick update, since it's nap time and I really need to get to bed lol!)

Josh:

• Had orientation day for kindy. He was fine, I cried (but not much). He had an AWESOME time and really can't wait for kindy. I can't wait either, I am really excited for him. We even ran to school the morning of orientation and I asked him who was more excited, him or me - he said he was :)
• is doing really well in swimming. he skipped a level cause the class times didn't suit and he's coped really well. He's DYING to get into the pool here, hopefully this week
• is such a wonderful help to me. I love having him around and chatting with him. He comes out with some hilarious comments. I also love watching him play with his friends that he's known since he was born. What a cool experience.
• Had a great time at his 5th birthday party at Maccas. What an awesome concept those parties are. SO EASY for the parent. I loved it! But best of all HE loved it. I can't believe he's 5 already...
  

Kai:

• is talking so well. Asks me all the time, 'What's this called?'. He can pretty much make himself understood 98% of the time. It's a relief since he seemed so disinterested for so long.
• Has amazing concentration skills (for a boy especially!). And the craziest sense of humour. He makes me laugh out loud all the time.
• Gets called 'Mikey' a lot these days. He was calling himself 'Mack-eye' and after a while I just really didn't like it, so I changed it to Mikey. It's not a typical nickname from Malakai I'm sure, but it works for the moment.
• Doesn't scream anymore! I'm not sure when he stopped doing it, but PRAISE GOD that's over. He's making good choices more and more, and it's really encouraging to see him learning and growing in this area.
• Loves Ariella to bits. Wants to kiss her all the time (she's not so keen on that) and be around her. Loves to play with Josh, but share...not so much. But we're working on that.

Ariella:

• Is crawling like a champion (since 9 months) and walking around the furniture. She doesn't scream as much either, so things have quietened down a little around here.
  
• Isn't sleeping all that well, hence the 'non-fully-functioning' mama
• Still has only 2 teeth, on the bottom and doesn't look like she'll be getting any more anytime soon :(
• Hates shoes. Yep, I'm crushed. And I find it STRANGE, cause both the boys LOVE shoes. Weird
• Is 10months old. We're trying to decide when to have her 1st birthday party. Either on her birthday (28th december) or earlier. Anyone got any ideas? Would everyone be around if we had it on the 28th?
  

Me:

• Am settling into being a stay at home mum a little more. I still miss work tho, and love it when I get the chance to catch up with everyone. If I could work 1 day a week I think it'd be ideal.
• Wish that I could get more done at the moment. I feel like the list of things I want to do just keeps growing and barely anything gets checked off. But I also want to just be present in the moment and enjoy this season without constantly stressing. So I'm balancing all that and doing ok ;)
• Reading 'A Resilient Life' by Gordon MacDonald and loving it. Also started reading 'Crazy Love' (both books I bought for Aaron for his birthday...hmmm...) and it seems like it'll be good too. I have about 4 or 5 books I'm in the middle of right now and I'm looking forward to finishing a few of them!
• Planning excursions each week to try and get the most out of these last few months with Josh before kindy. We've done questacon, and are planning to go to story time at the national museum, cockington green, the dinosaur museum, weston park, CSIRO discovery, tidbinbilla and any other places I can think of - got any suggestions? Anyone like to join us?

Aaron's hearing aids have been a huge grace-builder for many months now. Lots of issues, frustrations and disappointments (including not being able to go to general conference anymore). Please pray that God would intervene in this situation. And that we'd learn everything He would want us to learn from it :)

til next time, God's richest blessings :)
Kylee
xox