What is in a routine?

"Mommy, can I go to school today? I miss my friends." Andrew. At school, he reportedly asked his friends if they missed him last week because, "I missed you!""Mommy, I don't want to go to school. I want to stay home with you." Samantha (7am)
"I had the best day ever at school today. I cannot wait to go back tomorrow." Samantha (4pm)

Having a routine with out of town helpers and a newborn in the house and a hubby to sometimes has to travel is very difficult! What I realized last week was that the break from the routine to celebrate Thanksgiving and Matthew was awesome on so many levels. It was so nice not to have to take Samantha to school and for the kids to get to spend time with Matthew and their grandparents. Samantha was able to participate in the tea for the Presentation of the Theotokos and have a play date with a good friend from church and school. But it was difficult for them to spend time at home ALL week. They aren't used to it. And the weather was well, awful- most days! By the end of the week we seemed to have settled into a new 'laid back' routine to have to shift gears again to start back to a school routine. Its Wednesday now and I chose to have Andrew home with me. I didn't want to spend the time driving him to and from school today even though he wanted to go. I told him he can be my little helper with Matthew today. Samantha's riding the bus! I guess I should have taken a picture of that or something, but 30 degrees and rain/flurries don't encourage the amateur photographer in me.

Today was Matthew's due date! I feel so happy he joined us a couple weeks early. Its like stolen time...until I remember that I need to have a paper submitted for publication by Dec. 15th. I worked on it last night for about 1 hour- one interrupted hour while AJ and Samantha fought sleep and my mom held Matthew who was fussing and ready to eat for the last 10 minutes of that hour. I'll get it done, but will definitely have to be smart about finding a productive time, a new routine for me too!

Matthew Bradley Arrives!

Matthew Bradley Algood
Born: November 17th, 2011
1:45 am
6 pounds, 4 ounces
18 inches long
Baptist Hospital
Nashville, TN

David and I arrived at the hospital about 1am. It took about 10 minutes for someone to come to the front desk. After getting to a room, Matthew joined us only about 30 minutes later. It was a long labor, but I felt very blessed to have spent most of the labor at home! We are very grateful for a friend of mine from work whom came to the house to stay with Samantha and Andrew so their sleep was not disturbed.
Proud big brother and big sister met Matthew for the first time on Thursday afternoon. It was a big day!
Matthew's bassinet had a picture of Samantha and Andrew in it the whole time we were in the hospital. I was expecting Matthew to be very active based on his activity in the womb, but thus far he is pretty laid back and just wants to suck on everything except a pacifier :).


We are fascinated by how tiny he seems. His little feet and hands are so wrinkly. He has alot of skin to grow into! We keep going back and forth on who he looks like most. He definitely has more of Samantha's 'color' (since she was a toe head too), but seems his face shape might resemble Andrew more. Of course Andrew and Matthew were a similar size and Samantha was a WHOLE 2 pounds heavier at birth.
We left the hospital on the morning of November 19th and Matthew weighed about 6 pounds. Just 3 days later, he had a check up and was up to 6 pounds and 8 ounces! He has been doing great these first days at home. He now has day and night straight but definitely still sleeps most of the time. Matthew met his grandparents from BOTH sides of the family yesterday. We'll spend this Thanksgiving being especially grateful for the gift of Matthew in our lives!

Happy Name Day, Matthew!

Today is the day we commemorate St. Matthew. We are also celebrating our lil' guy's name day because he will be named Matthew Bradley.

Troparion:
You did hear the divine voice and received the light of faith, abandoning the office of publican. You proclaimed the Good News of the ineffable Kenosis of Christ, O Apostle Matthew and now you intercede that they who praise you be granted forgiveness of offenses and great mercy.





Many years, Matthew Bradley! I cannot wait to welcome you to this world!


PS I tried to write this from my iPad...not blogspot compatible!

In Thanksgiving (2)

One of the motivating factors for getting back to the blog was to express thankfulness during this holiday season. Since reading One Thousand Gifts, I find this task much easier than it used to!

11). I am thankful for our law enforcement and the military! Whether local police, secret service, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, I am thankful that these individuals work so hard to keep our local community and nation safe. I am thankful they protect our freedom! Last year on Facebook I thanked the Veteran's I was 'friends' with. This year I couldn't tag everyone if I tried. I am so blessed to have so many family and friends which serve/served our great country.
12). I am thankful for good friends who celebrate life! Life begins at conception. We should celebrate every life that God has given us.
13). I am thankful for wind. The power of the wind this weekend was amazing. It is a reminder that we are not in control. God is...maybe its my first Christmas card from God.
14). Thankful for silly songs. Last night at dinner we dug out the lyrics to "Albuquerque is a Turkey". We laughed. Then we laughed harder when they made up their own lyrics.
15). I am thankful for Advent. Today is the first day of Advent in the Orthodox Church. 40 days to prepare for Christmas. We have the Jesse Tree ready to go. We have activities, the advent calendar and readings ready. Each year has gotten easier preparing for this time. We tend to ask the kids each day, "what was the best part of your day today?" This season I am going to try to ask them (based on the homily that Fr. Stephen gave Sunday), "Did you get a Christmas card from God today?"

Please forgive me a sinner.

AJ, A....W, Andrew, but not Broccoli

Andrew has always been very particular about his name (and he sure has had an opinion about his baby brother's name). While he knows how to spell it, he has trouble writing all the letters. He as capital A down and he likes to write the W ('down, up, down, up', he says as he writes), but inbetween the A and the W, he asks me to hold his hand while he writes. This past weekend David was 'babysitting' the kids and a few friends during my baby shower and they were giving each other Native American Indian names. Samantha ended up something like Fluffy Snow Princess and AJ never got a name because he left the room upset Daddy was trying to call him Broccoli. (He does love broccoli.)

I feel blessed to have some one on one time with Andrew everyday in the car. He loves to sing and tell stories. Considering he was such a difficult infant and early toddler, I am often shocked when I think about how easy he is now...don't get me wrong he is 3 and exerts his desires for independence and can be rather defiant. He is very expressive. He speaks so well and really lets us know what is wrong or what he needs which makes life so much easier! We're still working on the tone he uses, but he is generally very good natured about it.

When Andrew is not straight forward about his emotions or dealing with all of the recent changes around our family, he lives through his friend turtle. Turtle's name is "Algood". He used to live in our bushes and tap on the window at night. Then he lived under AJ's bed. Then when we moved, he moved to, but to 'Nash-a-ville'. Turtle has had a baby; AJ has had a turtle in his belly. His turtle excuses him from the house rules at times and really gives him a wealth of knowledge ("Turtle says"). Most recently Turtle lives at the Aquarium in Chattanooga. I love that he knows we all know Turtle isn't real, but he still uses him...even Samantha plays along and they laugh about some of the things they come up with for Turtle to do.

Andrew plays really hard! He loves to play outside, but even with indoor activities he can play with his train, cars and Legos for hours! It is alot of fun to watch what he creates. One of my favorite times is listening to the kids play make believe together. Samantha usually runs the show, "now you say this..." but she is letting him free play a little more. Yesterday they played with Samantha's playmobil set for an hour- AJ played with the Prince and the horse and Samantha the Princess and the Unicorn- PERFECT.

He is excited to become a big brother and declares that the baby loves him so much. He's probably right. The baby knows his voice because AJ loves to snuggle with me and while he is snuggling he will sing to the baby and even rub my belly. I asked him if he is looking forward to holding the baby and he said "No, he's gonna cry and want his mommy." I was surprised. I expect that once he is here AJ will want his turn!

Happy 6th Birthday Samantha!

Okay, so her birthday was a month ago, but I am playing catch up, right?!

This has been an amazing year for Samantha. This summer required so much of her for a little one. She had to move 3 times as we transitioned into our new home. Half of that time, she only had mom to lean on because Daddy was in Austrialia! She left pre-school and began Kindergarden a few weeks after we settled into the new house. She loves her new school and her teacher, but the transition has been anything but stress-free. She misses her old friends and teachers. She misses her naps!

To give you a glimpse of her personality these days...

As Samantha has met so many new people over the last few months in her own circles (after school care, school, ect), I keep hearing, "Samantha is the sweetest little girl". She is sweet, sentitive and caring. She won't harm a fly and takes everything you say to her to heart.

Samantha has a BFF...she's actually known her since she was 3 months old. When they have a playdate everyone else might as well be in another world.

She was so excited to have us decorate her new room- pink walls, butterfly accents...but she won't sleep in her room. She is afraid to be anywhere in our new house by herself. So she sleeps on the top bunk in AJ's room. She also has learned to coerse her brother into going with her upstairs when she needs/wants something.

She loves to color and draw, and is learning so much in school. Her favorite 'thing' at school is library time. She gets in her fair share of trouble. Usually because she is being chatty at the wrong time (shocking).

She also has a new nickname. I guess she grew out of "Mantha-Moo" (Thank God). Her new nicknames include, Crash Algood. She tends to keep moving forward when looking backwards, and or just plain not paying attention...lots of bumps and bruises for my lil girl! This week we are calling her "Toothless" after she lost her tooth in a blanket battle with Andrew.

Samantha is excited to become a big sister to another baby brother, but she admits she is a little disappointed that we're not having a girl. For a long time she was upset that the girls will be 'outnumbered', but I hope I can ease her mind a little...she'll always be my only baby girl!

As an aside, when we were headed into the ultrasound, everyone asked, do you have a preference. I really didn't. How could I? We have a girl. We have a boy. I saw reasons why it would be fun to repeat either gender...Suddenly when we found out this baby is a boy, I was so grateful and cried thinking of Samantha and how truly blessed I was to have her, my girly girl.

Now, don't get me wrong, I still have no idea what to do with a girly, girl. This momma was a tomboy and I have a really hard time knowing how to relate to my daughter (who won't even wear pants)! But, hopefully over time we'll met somewhere in the middle.

Best intentions!

Wow, it really has been a busy 6 months! It was never my intention to let the blog go, so I am going to get back to it. Slowly.

I will begin with an update on each of the kids and then we'll welcome our new baby into the family. He is due in less than 3 weeks now. He has a name and the kids want him to come out!

We're enjoying our new home and the shorter commute (at least I am!). The house needs a little work, but nothing that demands our attention more than the kids and work right now. While I've been away from the blog and likely not keeping touch as well with everyone as I'd like, I do feel like balancing family life has been pretty good. David traveled ALOT over the Spring and Summer which made it very difficult to update blogs and social spaces which lack security. One area of our home which needs some major work is our office. Right now we are set up in the 'bonus room' above the garage. It was HOT in the summer and is now COLD in the fall. Its away from the kids which is good and bad, but it has left me using my iPAD alot to keep up. The iPAD is okay for checking email and/or facebook, for looking up recipes, for reading, and even for shopping, but its horrible for blogging. Today I have a laptop...so let the challenge begin.

Thanksgivings for the first 10 days of November:
1. My mom (November 1st is her birthday) its always fitting to start this month being thankful for her. Thankful for her example as a working mom who put faith and family first.
2. Thanksful for my doctor! Despite some 'concern' over how big my belly is (I measure about 3-4 weeks behind), my doctor has been very reassuring and supportive. I saw him on the 2nd and was reminded how blessed I've been to have him care for me for all 3 of my pregnancies!
3. Thankful for science and collaboration. On the 1st I put in a grant which was a collaborative effort between 5 'young' scientists. On Nov 3rd, I gave a seminar which I prepared little for but received great support and discussion from my colleagues! So nice to have their support!
4. Thankful for creative friends and new ideas. Just as I have been preparing the baby's nursery, I started having an itch to do something 'different'. On the 4th of November I got some great ideas and inspiration to just try a few things. I haven't 'tried' them yet, but the ideas started rolling and a few days later I had a plan.
5. Thankful for health and the good health we as a family have ALL had this year. Several friends or friends of friends have had some pretty serious health problems/issues. I pray they all heal quickly! I am so thankful for each day that I can get up pain-free and live.
6. Thankful for my Church. St. Ignatius is such a sacred place. I look forward to our new temple!
7. Thankful for my Church family. With the expansion coming, we have had our 'growing pains' but I won't have it any other way. The friends I have through Church are my most supportive, loving friends. They are amazing!
8. Thankful for my husband and my marriage. 8 years ago on the 8th David and I married. What a wonderful memory. To think 8 years- 3 kids, 4 houses!, technically 4 cities (3 in middle TN), 3 employers (but 8 titles between us)....I don't think life will ever slow down, but I am so grateful to be on this journey with such a supportive husband and father!
9. Thankful for my 'employees'. Since July, I have had 2 new people join my 'team' at work. I hired a technician and a post-doctoral fellow. They are both such wonderful people. They not only have good 'hands' in the lab, but they are caring, sweet people. It humbles me to be their 'boss'/mentor/supervisor.
10. (TODAY) Thankful for our godfamilies. I realize this is an extention of our church family, but they are even more than that. It is my children's godparents and my own godson's parents who I go to first when we need something- prayers or support.

Please forgive me, a sinner.