{This and That} :: Babymoon Edition!

Some of you noticed the sweet baby boy pop up on my Instagram widget over on the sidebar and already shared your congratulations, but I wanted to share our happy news more formally:

Justin Vianney finally decided to make his appearance last Monday, eight days late and perfect.  We arrived home with him first thing on Tuesday and were greeted by a crew of very excited siblings clamoring to be the first to hold baby brother.  

Drew, who is 17 months now, was very intrigued and was happy to blow kisses and wave--but has kept a healthy two-foot distance from this strange new arrival.  Ha!  He has gotten over it--mostly--and will now approach him (still a bit trepidatiously) and kiss his little wiggling feet.  No signs of jealousy, but definitely a bit of healthy suspicion. ;)

On Wednesday we had the baptism, which was lovely.  And Xavier got to join Vincent as an altarboy again, which he was absolutely, positively thrilled about.  Happy day.

I got a post-baptism picture with all my kids together, which was pretty great too.  (You moms, and especially you moms of many, know how hard it is to get a decent photo of all the kids!)

Since then, I have been parked on the sofa with lots of pillows and moving as little as possible except to head to Mass yesterday.  Recovery is going fine and I'm already feeling stir-crazy, but I know from experience that it's best if I take it easy as long as possible.  Thank you so much for the prayers!

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A couple days before he arrived, we spent the morning at the farm park.  We hadn't been there in a while, and Clara didn't even remember her last visit, so it was time!

Speaking of Clara, she was positively thrilled upon seeing this just inside the entrance:

Her self-determined, years-long nickname is Piggy, and every time she sees pig, she's sure to shout, "That's ME!"  So this--and the pot-bellied pigs we saw inside--were a real treat.

I always look forward to seeing the Muscovy ducks, who are my personal favorite. 

I mean, really, right?  They are just so cute.

She is pretty cute too:

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Before giving birth, I made a little Babymoon Checklist for the kids.  The checklist basically keeps them going with school while taking me out of the equation as much as possible--or at least keeps the activities that require me to get off the sofa to a minimum.  My plan is to use it for a few weeks while I recover.  After Thanksgiving, I think I'll be ready to go back to our usual plan.

In case you're interested, here's what it looks like:

You'll see it's basically just a modified version of my kids' usual weekly checklist.  I just cut-and-pasted the original columns into different places and added/subtracted from there.

I made one for Cate too, since she cannot bear to be left out of anything that involves checklists.  (She is her mother's daughter.  Ahem.)  At the bottom of hers I cut-and-pasted my list of readings that I need to do for Years 1 and 4, which I snip off and keep in my agenda.  We hit those during naptime, as usual.

As you can see, we're definitely doing a lighter version of school here.  We're skipping grammar, dictation, picture study, music study, and recitation.  I'm also not doing math with the two younger kids--they're just reviewing for now with worksheets and math games with the Big Kids.  The Big Kids are only doing their daily work twice a week rather than four times, freeing up more time for outdoors play with the littles.  And memory work and Italian, usually done partially with me, are scheduled as independent activities for now.  It's not bare bones, but it is scaled down just enough to accommodate a new-newborn in the house.

We did our checklist this past week and things ran very smoothly, so I think this will be a good fit for us for the next few weeks!

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Some favorite finds lately...

Brandy has a Pay-What-You-Want collection of Charlotte Mason talks if you're looking for an audio injection of inspiration!  I'm treating myself to a couple for postpartum listening. ;)

Kimberlee's talented daughters created some really neat coloring pages in honor of Veteran's Day that would be wonderful for armed services-loving kids any time of year!  (Maybe a little stocking stuffer?)

As soon as I'm back in the kitchen, this apple bread is happening.

Looking for a fall handicraft?  I wish I knew how to crochet!  I also think they would look really nice hanging from the Christmas tree.

Amazing wealth at Cornell's Natural Sound Archive.  I'm bookmarking it for some nature study on a rainy day.

Have you checked out the Charlotte Mason blog carnival for November?

And don't forget: Keeping Company is up and ready for your entries!  I've seen some great posts floating around--don't forget to link them up for others to read and enjoy. :)