doozy of a week....and month....and year....

I got sick this week. I didn't feel like it was a virus or a bug, but almost like my body was rebelling -- too much stress, too little sleep, too much unusual food, so Tuesday my intestines emptied themselves from both ends and I slept and rested and slept some more. I feel better now and can eat fine, but am still tired. Even though being sick really stinks, it always makes me sit back and think about life and slow down a bit. Even though I resist it sometimes, I really do like to think and get advice, so some of my thinking and advice received is:
Rachel needs to sleep through the night -- 14 months is way too old to be waking up, still, move or no move, loft-living or no loft!
I need to get more sleep and not eat weird-for-me food (aka large quantities of dairy and potato chips) and I need to exercise (especially my abs which are practically nonexistent after 3 kids!)
I need to give myself some grace -- 6 months to feel adjusted to the move. It's the little things of where to buy groceries and where to locate the bath towels since we don't have a hall closet that really are stressful:)
I need to appreciate the work that I do -- even though I usually don't feel like I get much done during any given day, when i'm on the couch for two days straight, I can tell that I really DO do something when I am home because last night the house was more of a disaster than it has been since we moved.
I need to pray -- because there is no way that I can be a wife, mother of three, adjust to a new city, and spend two hours a day writing a thesis on my own strength.
And last but not least, I'm not perfect and no matter how many times I realize these things I will mess them up again. But, I did clean the bathroom this morning (for the first time since we moved - gross) and did some pilates and took a nap....progress.

In other news, Mariah is on her first learning excursion today (experienced by most of us as a field trip) to Millenium Park on the lakefront of Chicago to see a few treasures of the city. Rachel is a full-fledged walker now and Allison, well, it is amazing how much that girl can talk when Mariah is not around to overpower her:)