36 Weeks Pregnant and other updates (7QTs)

1. Today is officially 36 weeks of this pregnancy, which means little guy’s lungs are developed, and, more importantly, Mark will no longer get mad at me for praying for this baby to come out. This is right around the time each pregnancy where I am D.O.N.E. and really, really, really have just had enough of being pregnant. Spoiler alert: this time is no different. I am ready for my organs to go back to their normal places and to be able to eat without heartburn and sleep without having restless leg syndrom. Also, it’s going to be in the 90s this weekend, so that should be delightful. Sigh. 

2. We are chugging along here with our summer homeschooling, and it’s going surprisingly well. William had me flummoxed this spring/early summer because he was making absolutely no progress in learning to recognize numbers and letters. Turns out he just 100% didn’t care to learn them, and so all the different ways I was trying to teach him were not working. Super fun. Buuuut, thankfully, a switch has flipped in that kiddo, and suddenly he is very keen to learn both, and we are making lots of progress quickly, much to our mutual delight. 

G is also doing really well. She was struggling earlier in the summer too, and her ADHD symptoms were starting to get out of control again. But we were able to start therapy back up again, which has made a huge difference for her emotionally. We also did a med check at the pediatrician, and it turns out that she had grown 2 full inches since December and needed a slightly higher dose of her meds. The combination of both has helped her tremendously, and she is back to feeling good about herself and her ability to make productive choices. 

If you are interested in learning more about our homeschooling curriculum for the year you can check out my summer homeschooling post and the homeschool round up post from earlier this week.

3. Our garden is really producing veggies at this point in the summer, which we are all loving. The kids delight in being able to pick snap peas and cherry tomatoes fresh from the vines, and I am loving the homemade pesto that we are able to make from all of the basil! I will probably post a garden update every single week until fall, because it is just so darned exciting to watch it all grow.

4. Grandma, Nana, and Aunt Caitlin have both been absolutely amazing in sending the kids little gifts and activities to get us through this pandemic, so I thought I’d share a few of the items that are making my life easier and keeping their little selves occupied these days:

• Paint by Sticker: G’s new favorite activity. I love that it’s peaceful, quiet, clean, and great for her executive functioning.
• Regular Stickers: These Melissa and Doug Giant Sticker pads are amazing and G and William love creating scenes and making up stories with all of the different options. I’ve resigned myself to Charlotte sticking them on the floor from time to time.
• Reusable Stickers: Are you noticing a theme yet? My kids are definitely sticker crazy currently.
• Magnatiles: These are pricey (sometimes they go on sale on Zuilily, so keep your eyes peeled), but they are so incredibly worth it. They are easily the most played with toy in our house, and have endless iterations that occupy all of the kids. 100% worth it. All 3 of my kids have played with them every single day since March.
• Animal Tracks Matching Game: This one requires some adult supervision because of how young and competitive my kids are, but it is spectacular. My kids love learning about animals and this is a very cool way to add to their knowledge. It’s a memory game, but instead of just matching the pictures, the kids match a photograph of the animal to their tracks.