What’s up with the Kings? | March 2020 family update

Well…March was certainly an interesting month.  Here’s our March 2020 family update – what started out as a fairly normal month quickly turned incredibly abnormal as the whole country shut down due to Covid-19.

Let’s take a look:

We started off with some cutie pie kiddos laughing on the couch.
Every day as part of homeschool the boys practiced their Lads to Leaders songs.  Everly started going up and standing in the same spot once the boys were done so we think she wanted to do what they were doing too!  So cute.  We’d sing a song with her while she stood there.
Hudson learned about pi in one of his Classical Conversations math memory sentences and for a while wanted to write it on everything.
Finishing up a painting for community day – VanGough’s Starry Night
Funny little ponytail
We had a very unfortunate food poisoning incident this month with applesauce pouches.

Saturday evening Everly ate one while we were fixing dinner. A couple of hours later after she’d gone to bed she woke up vomiting. She threw up every 15 minutes or so for about 2 hours.

I suspected it was the applesauce because that was the only thing she ate that day that no one else ate (and no one else had gotten sick). Yet for some reason I gave the boys each one last night (Wednesday night) for their snack on the way home from church 

Those of us moms who are not tutors in our Classical Conversations community group put on a Tutor Appreciation lunch for the tutors.  I was in charge of the gift bags and table decor.  I loved how bright and spring-y they turned out!
I was setting up for the tutor appreciation lunch so I didn’t get to see much of Hudson’s class that week but I did get to grab a picture of him working on his science project.
I was one of the speakers at our church’s Ladies’ Retreat.  We each based our lesson on a song – mine was Trust and Obey.  And of course since Everly won’t let anyone else hold her without freaking out I had to teach my lesson while wearing her.  Thankfully she was mostly quiet and calm.
Running errands before church Sunday night and all three kids fell asleep!  Whoops.
Ok if you know Hudson or have read my blog for long you know this is a BIG deal.  Hudson has always been terrified of animals!  One of our preachers and his wife had us over for dinner after church – they have this small dog and I was sure the kids would completely flip out, cry, scream (all the reactions they normally have when we go somewhere that has dogs or cats).  But no – much to my absolute shock, not only were they not scared but they both wanted to pet him!  AND they didn’t even have to put the dog up – he walked around, even walking under the table where the kids were sitting to eat, and they didn’t seem bothered by him at all.

First the horse, then the dog…maybe we’re making some progress finally!!
Michael started a new job this month (same company, same office, just a different job within that office).  He had some training to do for the new job at their office that happens to be in the same town where my mom and grandmother live so the kids and I tagged along.

The steps at my Mema’s house are good and wide – perfect for kids to climb on.  All my kids have learned how to do steps while at Mema’s house and Everly was no exception.  By the time we left she was climbing up and down the steps like a champ.
Everly slept terribly while we were there.  She barely slept at night and didn’t nap well during the day either.  Traveling with little ones can be so hard!
Her post-nap hair was hilarious!
The boys discovered the joy of talking through a fan and hearing it distort your voice.
Snack time.
The original plan was for the kids and me to stay a few extra days while Michael came on back home for work, but after Everly was so fussy during the day and slept almost none during the night we decided to pack us all up and come on home.
Check out police officer Everly!
Working on our capital letters
The night we got home from our trip Everly slept amazing.  I think she slept 15 straight hours which has never happened.  But then the fussiness continued and the next few nights were horrible – Michael and I basically slept in shifts so one of us could sit up and hold her.

She also started running a fever and got congested.  Turns out the fussiness and not sleeping well, and then later the fever/sickness, was due to multiple molars coming through at once.  Poor Everly!  No wonder she was miserable.
I’m so thankful for the flexibility of homeschool – doing school while cuddling a sleeping, feverish Everly.

The best part of Hudson learning to write is sweet messages like these “I love you Mommy and Daddy and Parker and Everly, by Hudson”

At this point the coronavirus had become a hot topic in the news – people were starting to discuss it tons and were worried about things getting bad but most places had not begun to cancel church, school, etc.  However, since Everly had a fever we were extra cautious – normally for something like that I’d keep her home and Michael and the boys would go on to church but with current recommendations for anyone with a fever or around someone with a fever to self-quarantine we all decided to stay home from church.  We were 99% sure her fever was due to teething but didn’t want to take any chances. I had a strong feeling that churches were going to be closing completely soon so I went ahead and made some communion bread for us to have this week and any other following weeks.  This is the recipe I used – it tasted just like the communion bread we had at my church growing up!

I made a much smaller batch than what the recipe says and it made plenty:
– 1/4 cup flour
– 1 tbsp oil
– 1 tbsp water
– pinch of salt

Because of the teething (I assume) Everly went back to nursing like a newborn (many times during the night and day) and it was incredibly painful!  I mean, brought me to tears several times and made me strongly consider weaning her.  I definitely dreaded feeding her each time.  I don’t remember having pain like this with the boys at this age (definitely when they were newborns but not when they were this old).  Thankfully after a couple of weeks she started nursing way less but man…it was a really rough patch there for a bit.
Still not sleeping great at this point – this was one night that she just would not go to sleep.
I finally got her to sleep by wearing her for a while.  Whew.
The boys built a bridge for their Legos between their beds
I don’t remember the exact timeline but by this point social distancing was being strongly encouraged, things were beginning to be cancelled (including some of the things I was looking forward to like Young Living’s convention and the summer Olympics).  The kids and I were no longer leaving the house (A chiropractor appointment on March 12 was the last time the kids and I got out of the house before this all went down)
Thankfully we’ve had great weather so we have played outside tons and tons!
“I know your favorite color is orange by Hudson” – a note to Michael
Doing my Bikini Body Mommy workout outside while the kids played
Bubbles and chalk
On March 18 Michael started working from home.  I am so, so thankful that he has a job that he is able to do from home, at least temporarily.  We set him up with a makeshift office in Everly’s room (since she doesn’t really use it anyway).

The boys made about 100 cards/pictures and slipped them under the door to his office on the first day he worked from home. Everly LOVES going outside!  As soon as she hears someone say we’re going outside she runs and gets her shoes.
At the end of Everly’s nap time and the boys’ quiet time I usually turn on a tv show for the boys.  If Everly wakes up before that’s over she likes to go get on the couch with them while they watch,

Something I wrote on Facebook about the current situation:

“This whole situation stinks. No doubt about it. But it is so heartwarming and makes me so incredibly proud to see the responses of many in the face of the coronavirus upheaval.

Parents who have been thrust into homeschooling and are making it work

Veteran homeschool parents offering support to these accidental homeschool parents.

Hudson was so proud he wrote “Jesus”
Walking around the neighborhood.  They melt my heart!
Working on our Kiwi Crate boxes
Everly loves watching the birds outside the window!
Our first official week of virtual church where church was closed completely.  We were still able to watch a church service online and then the kids and I did a Bible class thanks to some moms who had started a Facebook group for Facebook Live Bible classes for littles.
Everly singing “don’t let Satan *whoosh* it out!” from This Little Light of Mine
Everly loves to ride in the gator which sometimes causes a problem – 3 kids and only 2 seats.  They got creative so that they could all ride – all was well and good (and I obviously had a lapse of judgment as I took a picture instead of telling Parker to get out of the back) until not 30 seconds after I took this picture Parker fell out of the back onto the concrete.  Thankfully no injuries but I felt terrible!
Hudson picked some clovers and put them in Everly’s hair
Our roof had some damage from a storm a few months ago and now that the weather is warmer the roofers were able to come and put our new roof on.  The boys enjoyed watching them!  It was a noisy two days for sure, though!
“Away in a Manger”
“Two-letter phonograms are friends”
We found a social distancing neighborhood scavenger hunt that we enjoyed doing.
I busted out my fabric and started making masks to donate
Outside every day!  We try to make sure we get out and get fresh air daily.
 A lot of days after Michael gets “off work” (aka comes downstairs once work is over) we go for a walk around the neighborhood
Lap full of babies!
Hudson lost his 2nd tooth!  Unlike his first one where we tried to pull it for weeks this one came out on the first pull.  He mentioned his tooth was hurting at supper, while Micahel was brushing his teeth he realized it was loose, Micahel gave it one pull, and out it came!
I put Everly’s hair up in her first tiny single ponytail.  It’s still a little bit short for that but it’s so cute!
We’ve been writing encouraging verses and messages on the road and our driveway for people to see as they’re out walking.
She carried her water cup around like this for a long time one day.  It was so cute and funny!
Putting together a terrarium and plantar that they got for their birthdays.
Church from home
Our CC community days got cancelled for the rest of the year.  We’re doing Zoom meetings on our community days for our morning meeting but then the rest of the stuff is done at home, including our science projects.  I put Michael in charge of that so he and the boys started planning out the first one, building a tower with straws.
For the first time since I got my Apple watch last year I had a perfect month!  Aka I closed all 3 of my rings each day (move, exercise, and stand) – I don’t work out on Sunday’s so I don’t ever close those rings.

Everly  17 months

(She usually loves to smile and “cheeeese!” for the camera but not today )

Here are some things I want to remember about Everly being 17 months (aside from the fact that we’re in the middle of a pandemic…)

Communication:
– Words she says clearly are daddy, Bible, mama, “where are you?”, and fuff. Though she CAN say mama she usually calls me daddy too, which is confusing lol.
– She also has sounds she makes for “bird” and “dog” – they don’t really sound anything like the word bird or dog but we’ve figured out what she means
– She makes lots of cute little talking sounds but so far they don’t make any sense to us
– Her favorite animal sound is “moo” and she says that for most animals
– She signs more, please, eat, help, and milk
– That’s about for what she says. However, she definitely understands what we’re saying! If I ask her where a specific toy is she runs and gets it, if I say we’re going outside she runs and grabs her shoes from the basket, she’ll follow simple commands like “put this book back in the bag”.
– Body parts she knows (will point to them when I ask) include her belly, feet, hair, mouth, nose, bottom, and hands

Food:
– That’s been a little bit of a struggle this month! At the beginning of this month she got food poisoning (the applesauce incident) and then right after recovering from that she had her first real cold. We’ve had issues with eating ever since (though things are getting a little bit better) – she quit eating and ton of her favorite foods and got really, really picky for a while
– Right now she LOVES pretzels, crackers, and tortilla chips. That’s all she’s eat if we would let her. She beelines for the pantry door any time it’s open asking for pretzels. Her other favorite are those Gerber Melts. She loves them.
– Other things she’ll eat most of the time: beans, sausage (she devours sausage!), peanut butter banana, peanut butter sandwiches, bone broth, tomato soup, buttered toast, oatmeal, hashbrowns
– Things she’s currently refusing to eat that she used to like: any other meat besides sausage, any fruit besides bananas, all vegetables, eggs, cheese. I hope she gets back to eating these things again soon!

Nursing:
– Just in the last week or so we’ve dropped down to only 3ish nursing sessions a day (naptime, bedtime, and usually once during the night. This has been a huge relief for me! A few weeks ago she was wanting to nurse like a newborn (so many times a day and all during the night!) and it was incredibly painful. I’m glad she’s chilled out on that some.

Sleep:
– Pretty good now. She goes to bed around 7:30 and sleeps until 6:30ish in the morning. She usually wakes up one time for milk during the night.
– During the week or so while she had a cold (which I think was caused by her molars because two new molars popped through in the midst of it), she slept terribly. Several nights Michael and I slept in shifts – one person slept while the other sat up holding her. It was awful. But thankfully once she got through that she went back to sleeping normally.

Favorites:
– Current favorite things to play with are her barn, this bubble container thing we have outside, some baskets I have, some stacking rings she got in her Kiwi Crate box, and her pretend food.
– She loves crayons and has moved on from eating them (thankfully) to coloring with them on paper…as well as the table and the walls lol. Third child – it doesn’t even bother me anymore.
– She loves stickers – she’ll sit and peel stickers off for a long time
– She likes to look at books and be read to.
– She loves playing outside! She took a tumble yesterday and scratched up her nose and chin. But she just ruuuuuns and chases after the boys. So cute.
– Her favorite songs are the “oh no, no, no” song (What time is it?), The B.I.B.L.E., and “Oh I love to pat the Bible”
– She likes to watch the birds at our bird feeder and also enjoys seeing the dogs walking around our neighborhood

Dislikes:
– Besides all the food I mentioned that she’s refusing to eat right now, she also hates baths again.

Other stuff I want to remember:
– I put her hair in it’s first teeny tiny ponytail (that had all of it in there) this month
– She grabs our chins and turns our faces to her if we’re not looking at what she wants us to look at
– When she wakes up from nap she wants to get down out of my lap and up on the couch with the boys (they’re usually watching a tv show at the end of nap time)
– Before social distancing began we went to my mema’s house and she got really good at climbing up and down the steps while we were there (My mema’s steps are nice and wide – all of my kids have learned how to navigate steps well there!)

She just has the sweetest little personality ever!

What. A. Month.  My emotions have run the gamut between “this is not a big deal at all and people are blowing it out of proportion” to “this is serious, why is no one else taking this seriously?!” to periods of intense anxiety and fear where I had to quit reading the news and all the scary info to so many more.  I’d like to journal it all at some point but how do you even put it in to words?!  Information changed from day to day, my emotions and thoughts changed from hour to hour some days, there’s just so much that happened in the span of a few short weeks (and still going on as I write this at the end of April…)  Maybe I’ll work on that for a future blog post.

But I am so very thankful that Michael was able to switch to working from home and since we homeschool our lives weren’t interrupted nearly as much as most.  Of course we miss going to church and going to our homeschool events but overall we’re doing fine.

The post What’s up with the Kings? | March 2020 family update appeared first on My Chocolate Moments.