A rather thoughtful post

Jacob seems absolutely huge to me... this must be because my girls were both very tiny as babies (and are still rather tiny today). Well, at Jake's 4 month well-visit his height was 24 1/2 inches and weight at about 14 1/2 lbs. The doctor says this puts him in the 50th %ile for both. So, there you go - in my eyes, he is a monster baby, but it turns out he is just where he should be (if that can really be measured). I've never had a baby that was in the 50th- they've always been 10th or smaller. So this is new! :) I just LOVE my little Jake. He is very good natured and happy. He is extremely quick to smile and always a flirt (especially at church to whoever is sitting behind us). He is a great sleeper - he's down to one feeding during the night (at 1 or 2 am), which is pretty good, considering he goes to bed at 5:30 and wakes up for the day at 6:30. He's also so cute in his crib or playpen - he rarely cries for me when he gets up from a nap - I often will find him after his nap just happily playing with his feet or sucking on his fingers. What a wonderful little boy he is! I give him exorbitant numbers of kisses each day - plus all the kisses and loves he gets from his sisters and daddy. He's a lucky boy, I guess - but I really feel like the lucky one... he's just a joy. So, even though I whine and complain about how hard having 3 kids is... I am also very happy because my kids are great. :)

I've been keeping up the bread-making and it's getting easier and easier. We make 2 loaves on Mondays and 2 more on Thursdays and that gets us through the week just great. At first I felt like I was slaving away in the kitchen to get bread made, but now I have all the ingredients I use in one place in my cupboard, so I pull them out quick, measure it all out into my mixer and then it's just a matter of waiting for it to rise a couple times - during which I do other things. And the kids love to watch and help and we're all learning quite a bit as we go. I even made tortillas for the first time last week and it was surprisingly successful! And I made blueberry jam over the weekend. Plus we've had many rounds of cookie making... mmm... Hello - My new name is Little Susie Homemaker. :) I don't know what it is lately, but I am really enjoying the baking and cooking and getting a hold of my inner mommy skillz. Part of it may be out of necessity as we adjust to our new 'residency salary', but oddly I am also really enjoying living on our modest budget and being surprised at how far a small amount of money can stretch. I feel like the things I'm learning and experiencing right now will help me throughout the rest of my life. Things are good... life is good. I'd love to hear thoughts from you good friends out there going through residency and how it's shaping you as a mom.

I'm being very reflective this evening, wouldn't you say? It must be that Ben is away at work and the kids are in bed, and I have a lot on my mind. :)