February

February...after a cold January, we were so ready to get back out into the world! Which led to us finally finding and buying a "new-to-us" minivan. Tim and the girls cleaned it inside and out until it seemed like an actual new van! The kids were especially excited about this purchase because it includes...drum roll...a DVD player.

Speaking of getting out of the house! Mommy and her friends made our somewhat-annual trip to Shipshewanna for the PJ Sale. Wear your pjs, show up early in the morning, buy all the fabric and bulk foods, eat soft pretzels until you can't move. During this car ride Mommy was feeling a little nauseous because...she was PREGNANT WITH BABY #5!!! The "morning sickness" (no! all day, all night, too tired to function without daily naps, numb brain, only want to eat raisin bran sickness) started almost immediately and went on until 14 weeks. It was a much longer stretch than Sarah's had in the past. Normally she felt yucky from week six to week 12 and then moved on to the easiness of the 2nd trimester. There are moms who have MUCH worse sickness for MUCH longer. But it is HARD to keep being a mom and feel so bleh!

Prime Example: Sarah went to bed early (her new normal). There was a loud thud around 11 PM or midnight. Tim hadn't come to bed yet, but actually heard the thump out in the garage. Sarah went to go check what had happened. Vivian had fallen out of bed onto a wooden stool. She was crying and clearly in pain. Sarah tucked her back into bed (barely functioning isn't an exaggeration, people) and said the pain would go away soon. Then Mommy got back into her own bed and was immediately back asleep. A bit later Tim came to investigate the crying he still heard. It was Vivian, still in terrible pain. He carried her into our room; her teeth chattering from the pain, she climbed into our bed. Sarah rolled over, almost coherent. Tim said he was sure her arm was broken and he was going to take her to the hospital. He was correct. The mom-guilt will never expire from these moments of neglect.

They gave her a soft cast and recommended pain reliever for a day or so. And appointments with a specialist for a hard cast and follow up to make sure the break healed well.

Still tired and in lots of pain, Viv didn't make it to school the next day. But eventually ended up with a blue cast to match her school colors! She wasn't able to swim or do anything rough-and-tumble for six weeks. This was NOT easy for our very active Vivian. Within a week of the fall, we were reminding her not to jump on the couch or pogo stick. She even attempted to find out how strong the cast really is by putting it under a mattress. Miraculously, she did heal quickly and completely!

Simon managed to keep himself and all of us entertained through the hours of Sarah moving so slowly: lining up his toys across the room everyday, trying to help with the cooking, and his activities.

"Let me in! I know there are cookies in there!"

We had more snowy, icy e-learning days. The girls were pros at e-learning by this point and were generally done with everything by noon. That meant glorious hours for Simon to play with his sisters!

Mommy had already purchased a bridesmaids dress for Uncle John and Ande's wedding. The pregnancy meant a trip back to the store to look for a "maternity" dress. Which they don't actually sell. But they have this very forgiving bag-type dress that would work! And a lumpy pillow to make the try-on more "realistic".

It was time to break the news to Miriam. Mommy's ability to keep up was clearly not keeping us together (ahem, missed orthodontist appointments!) and Miriam was picking up so much of the slack already. One morning she was up before her sisters and we were thrilled to be able to tell her that her next sibling was on the way. We thanked her for all the work she'd been doing to help Mommy and asked that she keep up the good work for a while longer. She was so, so excited to hear the news and be in on the secret. We taught her to make pancakes and gave her more responsibilities in the house and keeping an eye on Simon. Which she gladly did for this good cause! At dinner one night, Vivian asked, "When are we going to have another baby?" Miriam's eyes got so big as she made eye contact with Mommy and then looked at her plate trying hard not to give away the surprise. She couldn't keep a straight face but managed not to make a peep!

Sometimes that memory of her glee at knowing about Baby #5 and managing not to give it away makes us want to have fun secrets to share more often!