One Special Day

It was the knocking on the door that woke me up. Obviously one of my children wanted to come in, but opening my eyes was much harder than I anticipated. It felt like I had been sleeping for an eternity even though it had been quite difficult to actually fall asleep. The back pain caused by my pregnancy had just hurt that badly. The knocking came again- louder this time. As I wearily sat up, I very vaguely noticed I was not wearing the same clothes I had gone to bed in. My stomach had grown too big for my normal night dress, but for whatever reason it was what I was clothed in.

And, my stomach was its usual size. I started to panic and feel terror as I wondered if I had somehow lost the baby while sleeping. However, there was no sign that such a thing had happened. Even if it had, there was no way my stomach could have shrunken so drastically in a mere few hours.

Tag

What is it like to have free time? I can't even remember what it feels like to have the smallest break. I suppose it's something similar to that one peaceful second where everything's quiet right before I slip into my nightly deep sleep brought about by exhaustion. Even with ada, Eloril, and Ortherion's help, I can barely keep up with Elrelas, Henduil, Silmalad, and Alyan. I'll be trying to teach one of them when another needs his diaper changed. I'll try to use the restroom, and all four boys will need to be fed at that exact moment. It's a constant cycle of changing jobs. Just when I begin to think everything is about to be taken care of, one more issue pops up.

I knew to expect some of this given my experience with Aravilui, Arluwen, and Amadrie, but I never realized how adding simply one more child would make the whole situation ten times harder. At least unlike the time with my triplets, I don't have worry about money or not having enough beds. The house will have just enough space to fit everyone comfortably.

Unexpected News

Once Renduil, Rion, Sidhion, and Ortherion's winter break finished, they all became very busy with school work and activities. We began to see each other less and less. That's when ada took on the role of being the one to make sure the entire family spent at least a little quality time together each day. He always had this role at home as well- even though he was the busiest out of everyone. It never mattered if all we did was sit down and talk for a couple minutes. It never mattered if ada was exhausted and stressed beyond compare. Naneth, Eloril, and I were his family, and he would not forget us for anything.

So now that ada's here and has very little to be stressed about, he's easily fallen back into that role. Some days we really only can do nothing other than sit down and talk for a couple minutes. Then there's the days where we have the almost the whole afternoon to do whatever we want. We tend to head to the small lake to skate on those particular kind of days. Though I never fall, I've been staying on shore lately just to be entirely sure that I don't do anything to hurt my baby.

I've found out that I'm having a boy again. It's a little disappointing that I'll remain the only female in the house for a while longer. However, when I see ada, Eloril, and all my sons enjoying themselves without any cares, the fact that they're male and I'm female becomes irrelevant. All I see is family.

Axel

Ever since Lomaraniel had her birthday, she's gained the same affinity for sculpting that Fiendir has. I'm certainly glad to see that the shed is getting some use again. I was considering either having it taken down or remodeled into something more useful. The timing of Mara's birthday was perfect. I'll have to invite Fiendir over soon to give his sister some tips and instruction to help her improve even more.

Burnt Letters

The calm pace the house had before Serith and Tirith's birth is pretty much gone. I'm running all over the place trying to keep things in order. A bit unfortunately, now a lot of the quality time I spend with Elwen, Meldiron, and Lomaraniel happens mostly at meal times. The only thing that stops me from feeling too horrible about it is that they're also very busy with their own school activities. It's not entirely my fault that we can't all be in the same place at the same time.

Meldiron and Mara love to tell me what they learn and do in school. Mara is already at the top of her class though she's just started school. She's definitely going to be a force to reckon with. Her teachers, and even the principal, have suggested to me that I spend her to a specialized, higher-style school. While they tell me this with Mara's best interest in heart, I know the best thing is for her to stay at home with the rest of us. Mara hates the idea of going to some place like a boarding school anyway.

Snowflake Day

We finally have a bit of variation in this household now that my new daughter, Lomaraniel, has been born. I feel as if I can safely say that we won't be having another fair-haired, green-eyed child to add to the count. When I told him that, Derrek actually bet me that the universe would give Lomaraniel fair hair and green eyes just to mess with me. I took the bet, but now I'm secretly worried that what Derrek said will come true and the universe will mess with me.

Forever Separated

It really is interesting how things work out sometimes- like how a person you meet for the first time whom you think you want to avoid at all costs becomes a dear friend. Naturally, I am referring to Lar. I gave him a chance to impress me after his not so wonderful first impression, and now I can't believe that I ever wanted him to go away.

Unfortunately, he is only in Aurora Skies for a few more weeks. He is a photographer who is always on the move. While he does have an apartment back in his hometown, it's only a couple days out of the year that he is actually there. The rest of the time Lar is off seeing the world taking pictures for some big magazine the children have heard of but that I knew nothing of. Lar gave me a couple copies to look at, and I was amazed to find out that almost a third of all the pictures in each were taken by him. He explained that he usually is in one place for only a couple days in order to be able to take so many pictures of so many places, but that he requested more time here since he felt he hadn't captured the perfect photograph of this place yet.

Lar Smith

There are so many things to love about this town- the peaceful atmosphere, the beautiful landscape, the gorgeous night sky, and so many that I can't mention them all. However, one of my most absolute favorite features has to be the community garden. I'm able to get all the fresh fruits and vegetables that I love to cook with, and it's not quite as much work as having a garden in our own yard. Right now almost everything is in full bloom, and with the end of summer approaching there's only more goodies to anticipate.

Speaking of the end of summer approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to do something special.