Ladybug 3 Months

My pumpkin is 3 months old now and I can hardly believe it!  3 months has always been a milestone in my eyes.  In my experience, they tend to sleep more and cry less once they are 3 months.  Of course, this little one rarely cries and sleeps pretty great already!  :)

She has slept through the night 3 times so far.  I think it will be nice once she does on a regular basis, but I am enjoying her little state so much I am in no hurry.

She is still exclusively breast fed.  She is a pretty messy eater!  She lets the milk spill out of her mouth. My other two were very efficient eaters and also loved to eat (especially Autumn) so this is new for me.  I wonder if it will mean she might self wean early.  I hope not.  Although I really don't love breastfeeding, I think it is kind of sweet and pretty dang miraculous.  It is special to be able to do that for my children.

She has found her hands and although I have seen her looking at her feet, she hasn't grabbed them yet.  She sucks on her fist and fingers and even found her thumb once!

She smiles anytime I make eye contact with her and is a very content baby to be doing whatever.  She hangs out in her bouncy seat anytime I need her to and she stays in the swing almost the entire time I work out.  She will lay on her back on a blanket as well.  She also doesn't scream in her car seat.  That is brand new for me!  Both Autumn and Caleb hated their car seats (and Caleb also hated the stroller and any type of shopping cart).

She takes 3 naps a day although the times vary.

This is kind of funny, but she has learned that when Caleb comes over to say hi to flinch away!  She kind of closes her eyes to wait for the impact of his kiss!  Smart little thing!!

She is a precious gift sent from God and we all cherish her.

Mr. Man 18 Months

One and a half baby!  Such a cutie!  Such a Baby Hulk!!  Weighing in at roughly 32 pounds and ?? inches tall, Caleb is at the top of his class.  We love our sturdy little man.

He has changed so much since his little sister was born 3 months ago!  He has gotten much more independent.  He did it naturally and totally without him "having" too.  What I mean is he didn't learn to be independent after 3 weeks of being ignored or anything...he just was almost the same day we came home from the hospital.  It was a huge answered prayer.

Top 5 Characteristics
1. Emotional (highs and lows)
2. Sweet (gives kisses and hugs allll day long on his own!)
3. Chatty (although I can't understand hardly a thing he says, he "talks" a lot)
4. Strong willed (VERY)
5. Quick to catch on (another way of saying "smart" I suppose)

Sleeping
The boys sleeps like a rock.  I just love that about him ;)  He takes a solid 2.5-3 hour nap every day and he sleeps 12ish hours at night.  He goes down easily and looks forward to sleep.  If he is tired and you say "want to go night-night" he will reach up to be held, which means "yes, please".  He will say "nigh nigh" to Autumn who stays up later and have no issues about that.

Eating
He is a very diverse eater and will try anything.  He likes most things, but veggies are, of course, sometimes left on his plate.  He loves everything so I don't really know what his favorite foods might be!  Maybe bananas?    He is sill a chunk but is starting to get tall so he is slowing thinning out.  I am obsessed with his chunky legs and will be so sad when they are lean and mean.

Emotions
Ok, this is Caleb's most challenging aspect.  I don't know how to describe it.  He is emotional, yes, but so are all children.  I don't know that he is more emotional, but he expresses his emotions quite strongly.  He laughs LOUD and HARD when he is happy and he SCREAMS and CRIES when he is not happy.  Most days he has a tantrum of some sort.  Sometimes they are brief and sometimes they seem to last all day.  Things that set him off most of the time are not getting something that he wants.  For example, a toy or my cell phone or medicine (if I have to give Autumn some I have to be sneaky or give him something else at the same time or he LOSES HIS MIND).  Also if you do something he doesn't like, he starts to lose it and it is sometimes hard to get him back.  You can't just stop doing the thing he doesn't like, you have to distract him or just let him get the emotional overflow out of his system.  He doesn't do great with new situations.  New places, new people, new experiences...these things make him feel vulnerable (I assume) and it takes him awhile to warm up.  Awhile can mean 20 minutes or 2 weeks, haha.  When we first moved to our current house we would go outside in the back yard and it took about 30 minutes of sitting in my lap before he ventured out to explore the yard with Autumn.   We have been going to church nursery for 4 months and he still cries every time we leave him (obviously, my presence or lack thereof affects him too).  Trying something new affects him  long after we have left the place so we choose what we do carefully.

I don't mind that he is like that.  It is challenging, but I feel up to the challenge.  The only thing that I worry about is that I will parent him wrongly.  I don't always know what is best for him.  I rarely feet like this with Autumn.  I know what is safe and what is beneficial and what she can handle.  She rarely cries so when she is upset it is easy to know something is going on.  Caleb cries every single day so it is harder to know how seriously things are affecting him.  He cries over big stuff (Autumn pushing him down) and little stuff (wiping peanut butter off his face) and I can't always tell if he is really emotionally upset or just mad at me for doing something he doesn't like.  He has to get over me doing stuff he doesn't like.  I am going to always enforce our house rules whether he likes them or not, but I also want to be compassionate to his emotions since he seems to feel things A LOT.  It is not an easy line to walk.

For example, with dropping him off places (church, exercise group, bible study, date nights etc).  He is very attached to his family and doesn't want to be with new people or play with kids he doesn't know.  I need to find the balance between encouraging him to step out of his comfort zone, but not pushing him into things that are too much for him to handle.  I just want to do what's the most healthiest for him and I feel like I don't always know what that is exactly.

UPDATE 13 June:  I wrote this post about 3 weeks ago.  I have started going to a workout group 3 times a week on average.  Autumn, Caleb, and Eliza stay together in child care and he has grown soooo much in this area!  I think having Autumn there helps a lot.  I even went to a bible study for the first time last week and he didn't cry AT ALL!  It feel miraculous.  I know that's a big word and I know it's not really a miracle, but that is how it feels.  I never ever ever would have predicted a month ago that he would have "grown up" so much!  He is even crying/whining/tantruming less at home.  It is awesome!

Ok, moving on now...

Toys
He loves toy cars.  It is so cute to seem him scooting around on the floor driving his little car.  He always loves books as much as Autumn.  Yay!! That is such a blessing to have 2 children that love books.  He will sit on the floor with a book in his lap and "read".  He just sits and talks and talks while he looks at books.  He can say mama, daddy, Eliza (thy-tha), Autumn (Ah), papa (grandpas), shoe, sock, ball, teeth, hair, hot, eye, dog, cow, duck, book, snack, night night, bath, no, phone.  There are more but I can't think of them right now.  He also says outside, back pack, Tinkerbell, and water but they are too hard to write phonetically and I doubt anyone would know what he is saying except me (and maybe his daddy!).
Funny thing is he talks allllllll the time, but you can't understand 95% if it!  Hopefully, he will learn to enunciate better in the next couple of months.

Overall, he is healthy, healthy, healthy, and we are so glad he is OURS!!!!!!!

Sticky Weight Plus Some

My baby weight is stuck on me.  I was looking back at some of my old posts and 6ish weeks postpartum with Autumn, I wrote "...my stomach is flat...".  UGH.  I didn't know how good I had it!  With Caleb too, it came right off.  Now I have an 11 week old and I still feel pregnant because of my gut.  UGH.  I have a couple theories.  One is I am getting old.  Another one is I got pregnant too soon. Those are my only two theories.  Death to my belly fat! Death to my back fat! Death to my leg fat!  I feel so disgusting almost all the time.  I joined a work out group that is definitely making me sweat and making my muscles ache, but is it enough?  What else can I do?  I am a total dunce when it comes to getting in shape since I've never been in shape before.  Funny how that works.  I don't want to be shallow but I want to feel attractive.  I know beauty comes from the inside, but I feel so gross and squishy.  UGH.

I was watching Arrested Development tonight and it is just as hilarious as it was 3 years ago.  I just love that show!  Arrested Development, Friends, The Office, and Modern Family never fail to make me crack up and I love it!

If I could drink a Grande Soy White Chocolate Mocha without having to pay for it and without the calories turning directly into fat on my thighs, I totally would everyday.  They are sooooo good!

I am so emotional lately.  I hate it.  I'm totally not normal when it comes to emotions....I won't say not normal because I know quite a few people like me, I'll say not healthy.  I don't like feeling things.  Sometimes when I nurse Eliza, I get this influx of gushy emotions and I just don't like it.

Chris has been working late nights and so I'm taking care of the kids solo and IT IS SO HARD.  Ohmygosh, by the end of the day my patience is totally kaput.  Not to mention my energy.  Baths are the worst.  Imagine washing, scrubbing, rinsing, drying, lotioning, and dressing 4 humans (I am counting myself as one of them)...it's exhausting.

There is a crazy cat outside.  It's freaking me out.

Let's end on a happy note!  I had a conversation with Autumn about her thumb sucking and she hasn't sucked it for 2 days...just like that!  I think she is making up for the insanity we went through to potty train her.  Seriously, though, she just stopped!  I made her a sticker chart and am giving her special rocks (the child LOVES rocks!).  If this lasts, it will earn her major major brownie points the rest of her life!

My kids are so awesome.  If you knew them, you would think so too :)      

To Remember This Day

I haven't done one of these in so long, but they are so fun and I love to look back, read them, and remember those special days/feelings.

Maybe it's the newborn that brings them out in me (even though she was inside sleeping).  I wish I did them more often!

March 5, 2013

Warm wind

Sweatpants

My man smelling of charcoal

Chalk as an expression of self 

Follow the leader

The leader being Autumn 

Of course

Caleb made a prisoner by a single step

Caleb gifting his mama a weed

Runny noses

Bouncing curls

Sturdy legs

Blue, blue eyes

What a beautiful evening

Mom of Three

I've quickly learned as a mom of 3 how the world is not built for "big" families.  Having three is so different than having two.

First of all, there is just a general impression you get that people don't understand why you would have three.  And, with us, why on earth we would have 3 so close together.  I mean, according to society, two is accepted and even expected, but any more than that..."they" want to know "why"?  I find myself explaining "we didn't plan this"...like having 3 under 3 is some sin that I should have known not to commit.  I hate it and I have just decided to never again say that to people.  Planned or not, it is one of the most beautiful things about my life and I don't need to explain it away to anyone.

There is also the issue of childcare.  I've started going to an exercise class (first time ever!) and I love it.  I love working out and I love getting healthy.  However, there is a childcare issue (unrelated to me) and there seems to be (possibly) too many children to have to baby sit.  So, of course, I think I should just quit going.  No one has said that to me, but I am the only one who brings 3 children and certainly the only one who brings 3 very young children.

I would like to join a bible study, but am afraid I will run up against the same issue.  I take up one adult spot and 3 child spots.  It is my right to attend these things...but I can't help but feel like they see me coming and inwardly groan.  I am sure part of the problem is my own low self esteem and insecurities.

I wish society would see my children and smile.  I wish people would see me pushing a double stroller with a baby strapped to my chest and say "how happy you must be" or "you are one lucky woman" instead of "whoa" or "I guess you are done having kids for awhile, eh?".  I wish society loved children instead of seeing them as a financial burden or as stress.

My children are so special to me and so loved by me (and my husband!) and it pains my heart to have people think they are anything less than wonderful.  For us, it is can be very challenging having all these littles, but also so very worth it.

I don't know how to feel comfortable/accepted in society with these kids, but I better figure it out because we may have more!