today we went hiking at Barton Creek.

it has been so nice having Brian off work this whole week!

hopefully i'll get around to blogging about Christmas soon.

it's a little after 5. i've been awake for a couple of hours with a fussy baby. Hazel fusses most nights. it's really frustrating not knowing what to do for her. she'll act like she wants to nurse, but then she seems to have an upset tummy after she does. this has gone on for weeks. so i get up up because it's better than lying there with her writhing around. sometimes i think it helps her calm down if i leave her with Brian.

i've had the kids do a small amount of school this week, just math and grammar. after Christmas we'll take a break so that Brian and i can reassess where we're at and what we want to accomplish for the rest of the school year.

the other night we met up with some old friends, three of my closest girlfriends when i was a kid: Tasha, Deonna, and my cousin, Lisa. we all have kids now, 13 between the 4 of us. Tasha's three brothers and their families also came. we laughed so hard. it was one of those nights you just hate to see come to an end.

yesterday i got out and did some Christmas shopping. i'm nearly done with all i need to buy. i have some baking to do which will happen tomorrow.

yesterday i stopped in the Gap and they had a lot of stuff on clearance. i had bought several pairs of jeans while i was still pregnant in hopes that i'd be able to wear them once Hazel was born. well, i still have a size to go before i can fit into them, so i picked up a couple more jeans yesterday in a bigger size. it's encouraging to be dropping sizes without too much effort. i bought some size 2 Gap jeans when Hazel was a week or two old and now they're too big. Gap no longer makes size 1, they now call it 0, and what used to be 0 is now 00. weird, but that means i'm now in a 0. not sure if i'll ever comfortably fit into those 00 again.

i took Hazel with me when i ran/walked yesterday morning. i kind of enjoy having the company. her stroller has an mp3 plug in thingy with speakers, so we listen to Christmas music together while we exercise.

Margaret has been such a help lately. she cleans house without being asked, keeps up with her school work, and helps with Hazel. the others help, too, but not like her.

well, i need to gird up my loins and get out there to exercise.

it's a rainy, chilly day today. we've got Christmas music playing and the kids are finishing up some school work. i'm not letting them have the whole week off. i'm having them do math and grammar through Thursday, i think. i'm kind of mean like that, but they're not complaining. they don't realize that some of the schools are already out for break and others get out tomorrow.

i had my 6 weeks' appointment with dr. Love this morning. he couldn't believe that it had already been 6 weeks since Hazel was born. yeah, it's flown by for me, too. everything checked out okay. i still have 6 pounds to lose to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight, which seems to be where i always am at my 6 weeks check up. i'm not too worried about it as breastfeeding seems to help melt away the pounds.

mama came to spend the night last night. we all went to a Christmas carol sing-along at Redeemer, then came home and cozied up to the fireplace and visited. on the agenda for today is more Christmas shopping. i really don't have much more to do, i mostly just want to get the kids out of the house since it's too wet and yucky out for them to play in the yard.

i saw the sad news that R.C. Sproul, Jr.'s wife died yesterday. she leaves 8 children without a mom. my heart breaks for her husband and children! let's remember them in prayer.

i've got the kids rolling on math, so i have a few minutes to blog.

today it's soupy out. i got out at 6:30 to exercise. i'm finally getting back in the swing of daily exercise after being sick for over a week. i got a really bad cold and then bronchitis. thankfully that's on it's way out, and life is returning to normal. i haven't started running again, but i plan to, i don't know, maybe tomorrow. i'll probably run the Vern's No Frills 5K with Margaret and Samuel on saturday even though i haven't trained for it. heck, for $1 entry fee, why not?

we've been getting a little more sleep this week. either Hazel is only waking once or twice to eat, or i'm sleeping through her feedings. either way, i feel more rested than i did a couple of weeks ago.

we've been trying to get out and get Christmas shopping done most afternoons after we finish school. it's rather crazy getting 5 kids out the door. the boys tend to be scatterbrains often, and there is always something important left behind, like shoes or a coat. or their spending money.

i whipped up some Christmas skirts for the little girls in the family - Aili, Anni, and Hazel. here's a pic of Aili and Hazel's ~

they have a layer of tulle in between the fabric layers to make them puff out.

i had to go to the doctor last week because i couldn't stop wheezing. i sounded so bad that the doctor asked me whether or not i had asthma. i've been asked that by doctors 3 or 4 times, and i always wanna say, "i don't know, maybe i should ask a doctor." i'm sure i do have it, as my mom had is something awful as a kid, and Thomas has asthma pretty bad as well. the dr. gave me a new inhaler and put me on antibiotics. that was a week ago, and it still feels like i'm breathing through a wet filter. my dr. was so concerned about my breathing that he said for me to go to the hospital if i felt worse. i guess i didn't realize it was that serious.

we've been spending a good portion of our days trying to get Hazel to smile.she must think we're all looney. she has yet to indulge us. she seems like such a serious child.

off to drink my tea.

today hazel is a month old. she has been such a blessing to our family.

here are some pictures of her over the last month.

trying to wake up one morning when Mimi (my mom) was holding her. mama came and stayed a few days a couple of weeks ago.

hazel and i with brian's grandfather, who we visited Thanksgiving weekend.

napping with daddy

sunday morning bath. she likes baths a little more now.



there is always someone willing to hold her

dressed for the cold weather that blew in on sunday

she is still not sleeping well at all. since she is always in someone's arms during the day, she thinks she should be as well in the night. she won't sleep anywhere but right up next to Brian or me, and she makes all sorts of noises in her sleep, keeping us from getting a decent night's sleep.

Brian and i have been really sick for the past few days. we've had fever and chest colds and have just been miserable. i got sick first, so Brian was able to take care of me. but then he got sick, so now we're pretty worthless together.

despite feeling awful, we attempted a family picture on sunday. it's what you call keepin it real in the Wells family - tired looking parents who both had fevers, John with water all over his shirt because he had been sent to wash his face right before the picture, a cross eyed baby, Lucy with electric eyes....

we're not going to use it for our christmas card though. we're going to attempt some more picture this weekend when (hopefully) everyone is feeling better.

and one more picture...

hazel watching her first Charlie Brown Christmas. she was fascinated by it!

the past month has gone by so fast. it seems like it took november forever to get here, and then in a blink it was gone.

other news....

we've still been plodding along with school, though this week we've been rather sloppy with our lessons since i've been sick. i think we'll continue doing our lessons all the way up to the weekend of christmas to make up for lessons missed this month. we have some fun activities that we plan to do. i'm going to let them each make gingerbread houses represent things they're reading about in literature. it should be a whole lot of messy fun. we also plan to have a feast to go along with our history studies, which, for Margaret and Samuel would be a Roman feast, and for John and William, a colonial feast.

yesterday we went to the funeral of a dear man and his wife. Jackson and Barbara Boyett were killed in a head on collision last week. Jackson was our pastor for a couple of years during a pivotal point in our lives. i went to his little church, Dayspring Chapel, with my parents before Brian and i got married. brian and i did marriage counseling with Jackson. i can still recall some of the words of wisdom he offered us. he had us read through R.C. Sproul's Intimate Marriage. Jackson was the one who introduced us to reform theology and really got us to think. his sermons were so good and stirred you up to want to dig deep into the Word.

Jackson married Brian and i, wearing a Geneva robe and using the Book of Common Prayer, which to two kids who grew up charismatic and southern baptist, seemed so retro-cool.

it seems such a tragedy to lose such a wonderful couple as the Boyetts, but there is comfort in knowing that they both died together, not leaving one behind to grieve, and knowing that they are both now rejoicing in the presence of the Lord.

here is the obituary that ran in the Statesman a couple of days ago -

Jackson and Barbara Boyett On November 29, 2011, the Lord saw fit to call home his devoted servants, Ernest Jackson Boyett, Jr. and Barbara Diane Buis Boyett. Jackson, as he was called, and Barbara died in a head-on auto collision just west of Austin on Highway 290. Jackson was born in Austin on July 5, 1947, the son of Ernest Jackson Boyett, Sr., and Sylvia Bolt Boyett of Junction, Texas. Barbara was born in Angleton, Texas, on March 20, 1947, and was the daughter of Reid Buis and Aleen Whittaker Buis of Angleton, Texas. Jackson and Barbara were graduates of the University of Texas, both holding Bachelor of Arts degrees in English Literature. Jackson graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1976. After working in a variety of ministries, Jackson began a Bible study group that grew into Dayspring Fellowship located at 5500 Avenue G in Austin, Texas. Jackson was also a friend, counselor, teacher and former chairman of the board of To Every Tribe Ministries in Los Fresnos, Texas, and a board member of Providence Theological Seminary in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He and Barbara were both active in the Right to Life movement in Austin. Jackson and Barbara loved their Lord Jesus Christ. They loved Dayspring Fellowship, and they loved Texas, especially Austin. Jackson's father had served for a time as personal secretary to Governor Coke Stevenson and as Sergeant at Arms for the House of Representatives. Jackson is survived by his stepmother, Frances Boyett of Austin, a stepbrother Ben Lindsay and family of Austin, Trent Wilson and family, Dannie Bolt and family, Carolyn Bolt Moore and family, Buddy Bolt and family, his cousins, all of Junction, Texas. Barbara is survived by her brother Kenneth B. Logan of Portland, Oregon, and her cousins Shirley Miller of Alpharetta, Georgia; Gwen Howard of Shreveport, Louisiana; Dorothea LaGrone of Carthage, Texas; Karen Simpson of Naples, Florida; Lanny Latil of Beaumont, Texas; Linda Holbrook of Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Jean Adams of Tyler, Texas. We would be remiss not to mention their cats whom they loved: Sophie, Phoebe and Zachary. Visitation will be held at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 2620 South Congress Ave. on Monday, December 5, from 6:00 until 8:00 pm. Funeral services will be conducted by Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home at High Pointe Baptist Church, 12030 Dessau Road, Austin, Texas on Tuesday, December 6, at 10:00am. Burial will be in the Junction City Cemetery, Junction, Texas, on Tuesday, December 6 at 3:30 p.m. Flowers may be sent to Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home at the above location. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to the Jackson and Barbara Boyett Memorial Fund at Dayspring Chapel, 5500 Avenue G, Austin, Texas 78751

well, baby is calling for me.