Monday, January 30, 2012

Snow? Snow? Snow? Snow?

Three years ago this week:

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Historical ice storm

Two years ago this week:

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Lots of snow…lots of fun

Last year this week:

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Record snowfalls, record low temps

This year, this week:

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Sigh.

Have I been enjoying the unusually warm weather?  Yes.  Is it nice to go outside and play after the girls get home from school?  Yes.  Have I enjoyed not worrying about bundling everyone up each time we step outside of our house?  Yes.

Do I miss winter?  ABSOLUTELY!

Y’all, while it has been nice to enjoy the spring-like weather, I am READY FOR SOME SNOW!!!!!  We are READY for some snow at this house!  All three kids are prepared, clothing wise, to go out and play in the snow.  Matthew got the girls a new sled this year, one they can both ride on.  We had our trees trimmed in our yard in preparation for an ice storm, for goodness sake!  We are itching for a snow day (not 11 mind you, just one or two).  We have snow day appointed home improvement projects, ready to tackle.  I have pins on Pinterest specifically designated for snow day crafts and cooking projects.

I am ready to wake up, see our yard completely coated with a blanket of snow, for the news to be running the ticker on the bottom of the screen telling us which schools/businesses are closed for the day.  I am ready to have a pot of soup on the stove top and hot chocolate ready for my little eskimos when they come in from playing in the snow.  I am ready for a day where all of us have no where to be and nothing to do.

I think that is what I miss most of all.  Snow days force us to stop, slow way down, spend time in our homes with our families.  I am ready for one of those days!

And my body also thinks that it is March.  My allergies are acting up, I can hardly breathe.  I miss winter.

sigh.

Friday, January 27, 2012

35 years

I turned 35 today.  Wow, I just keep getting older and older…crazy how that works-ha!

The one thing that kept running through my head today was:when Rives turns 35, I will be almost 70.  Yikes!  Halfway to the nursing home, I guess.

It was a great day!  Last night, Matthew and I kept our New Years Resolution, part 1 of 12, by going on a date.  We went to see Extremely Loud and Incredible Close.  I read the book a few months ago and have been excited about the movie coming out.  It did not disappoint either.  Well, that’s a lie.  I was disappointed that some of the details were skewed but basically, the beginning and end were the same…kind of.

Really, the movie wasn’t as important as the date.  I just love, love spending time alone with Matthew.  I wish we could do it WAY more often.  In 18 years, we will get a lot of time together, one-on-one.  Until that time, once a month will have to do.

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We woke up this morning and began the typical “get ready while running around 100 miles an hour”…I’m sure you can all relate.  I had committed a sin last night and did not fix lunches.  So, when I commit such a sin, I am punished.  Punished by the chaos that is happening around me…I bring it on myself.  This morning it was a bit more chaotic because Nora was crying, “I didn’t make you a card and we didn’t get you a present!!!!!!”  No matter how often we told her to CALM DOWN RIGHT NOW, she continued to remind me that I had been forgotten.  I was starting to believe that I was about to wrap a bow on last nights date and call that my present.  Amid the crying, peanut butter flying around on knives and breakfast being thrown at children, I was surprised with three gift bags.

I had mentioned once or forty times that I really wanted a set of rings with all three of our kids names on them…

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The chaos slowed down for a few seconds while I opened my present and cried all over them.  (And Nora said, “Oh, yeah, I remember those…we DID get you a present.”  Ha ha!  Silly girl.)  How perfect is this present!?!?  That husband of mine, he is a good man!

And yes, my hands are also 35 years old.  Wow.

After the school bus (me) dropped everyone off at school I met a good friend at Starbucks for a deliciously sweet coffee.  Such a nice morning!

Rives and I hung out together for the rest of the day and enjoyed doing a lot of nothing.

After the school bus (me) picked everyone up we headed home.  It has been a long week for Nora!

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Doesn’t your whole body just hurt watching her sleep that way!

We went our to dinner, to a restaurant we had never been to before but one that is local to our area.  It was delish and the kids were all really good!

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I got a free dessert, because I am exceptionally old.  But I didn’t eat very much of it because I had this waiting for me at home:

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Check out the flame on this thing:

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It’s a wonder the smoke alarms didn’t go off.

After the kids went to bed Matthew and I watched Midnight in Paris.  I love to watch the movies nominated for a best picture Oscar before the Oscars.  So far we have seen: Midnight in Paris, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help and Moneyball.  We still have 5 more to see.  I’m sure we won’t see them all before the Oscars happen, but I hope to see them all before next year.

It was a great day.  I am so thankful that I was able to spend most of it with my family!  I am amazed at how Facebook makes a birthday seem so special….thank you to anyone who wished me a happy birthday on FB!  I love you!

Okay, I better get to bed.  I’m a whole year older now…granny needs her sleep!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Wordless Wednesday-sweet sister edition




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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

My take on a Parents Magazine article

So, while catching up on  my news, on Twitter (because isn’t that how we all keep up with current news these days), I came across an article that is in Parents Magazine.

11 Ways Your Body Changes After Pregnancy

My first thought-ONLY ELEVEN ways the body changes?

I would like to discuss all eleven of these but I have sensitive readers who might be embarrassed by the material discussed (my mother and those younger ladies who have not experienced the joy of being pregnant) (you’ll notice I didn’t include “men”.  That’s because I don’t know many men who get embarrassed by bodily functions.  And if I do have any men that read my blog, chances are they are married and chances are they have kids.  They are VERY aware of the changes that happens to a body…heck, they probably have a list of 20 they can say right off the top of their head.)  Just so you know though, I will be discussing breasts.

You’ve been warned.

My comments will be in italics and in red.

Hair Loss

A few weeks after delivery, you may start losing large amounts of hair. Like you think you are going bald, that amount of hair.  I literally pull out clumps of hair when I am in the shower.  After I had Rives, I had 5 inches of hair cut off because I was tired of seeing the blonde/brown/grey hair everywhere. The average person loses 100 hairs a day, but during pregnancy you were losing far less than that due to those raging hormones.  Yes, raging hormones is probably an accurate description of pregnancy. Now that the pregnancy is over, your body will have to compensate and lose extra hair for the first six months after delivery. But don't worry -- your hair will soon return to its normal growth cycle.  What the article failed to mention was that, even though your hair will “return to its normal growth cycle”, it will NEVER be the same.  Mine is now darker, wavier (not a good kind of wavy either, kind of a “she forgot to fix her hair for two days” wavy), more prone to grey hair (I blame the kids, not the pregnancies) and in a ponytail more times than I care to mention. And I should mention that because of the “raging hormones” you will now, most likely, grow hair in places that used to be bald.

Skin Discoloration

Some women develop what's called the "mask of pregnancy." That tan-colored area around your eyes will start to fade.  I think this is a typo.  What the author meant to say was “That tan-colored area around your eyes will start to darken right around the time the baby is born, from lack of sleep.”  Over the next 6 weeks the darkness will settle in causing an increase in the amount of concealer that you will buy at the store.  By the time the baby reaches one-year of age, the dark circles might fade back to a tan-colored shade, which will remain on your face for the next 18 years.  Because you are SO TIRED…all the time, SO TIRED.  Women who suffered from severe acne during pregnancy should see their skin start to clear up.  The opposite is true for me.  My skin is AMAZING during pregnancy…enviable really.  And then I have a baby and turn into a teenager again. However, other women will begin to experience a red rash that around their mouth and chin or suffer from extremely dry skin. Both of these conditions should be gone within weeks.

And here we go…

Breast Changes

Your breasts will probably become flushed, swollen, sore, and engorged with milk for a day or two after the birthDid a man write this article?  This sentence makes it sound like your breasts will be swollen, sore and engorged for ONLY a day or two after the birth. Once this swelling goes down, in about three to four days (oh, here it is and again, did a man write this article?  FALSE.  Swelling does not go down in three to four days.) (or until you stop breastfeeding), your breasts will probably begin to sag as a result of the stretched skin.  This should read “your breasts will DEFINITELY begin to sag”.  I am sure, if you are a parent of one child, you might have never had to deal with massive saginess (is that a word?).  However, if your body has gone through multiple beatings pregnancies, you are VERY familiar with saginess.  I have nursed all three of my babies and I have LOVED it (well, not the first week, the first toe curling week).  I am still nursing Rives and will for the next 4-5 months.  I am NOT looking forward to seeing the damage that is done to my body when I wean him.  I am going to have to invest in a serious bra.  Y’all, my boobs may or may not reach to my belly button by the time I am done feeding Rives.  I know this because, the summer before my senior year of college, I spent the summer in Africa.  It was a great experience.  I learned so much from that trip!  One of the very first things I learned in Africa was that nursing multiple babies can have a VERY adverse reaction to breast tissue.  We arrived in Africa on a Saturday and headed to a church service the very next morning.  I will never ever ever ever ever forget watching an African mom nurse her young child at that church service.  Picture a baseball in a tube sock.  Oh, I wish I was kidding.  My innocent little eyes could barely take in the sight.  And those African women, well, they didn’t have “udder covers” or “hooter hiders” to use.  Oh no, those babies were experts at getting what they wanted and would reach right into their mamas dresses and pull out what they were looking for.  I have never seen so many college-aged boys jerk their eyes heavenwards and start blushing.  What those college-aged boys probably didn’t realize at the time is that they were getting a glimpse of their future…get ready boys, if your wife has multiple kiddos and nourishes them with her body, this is what she will look like-an African woman at a Sunday morning church service. You may also experience milk leakage for several weeks, even if you don't breastfeed. Once again, the time frame is way off.  If you breastfeed, you will probably wear nursing pads for at least 3 months to keep your shirt for becoming soaked each time you feed your precious offspring.  It’s delightful.  And when you finally do wean your piranha baby, you can expect it to take several months for the milk to completely dry up.  I have heard some women say that it took at least a year, AFTER WEANING, for them to not have “leakage”.  Good news, if you run out of food at your house and all of the grocery stores shut down in your state, you will be able to continue feeding your child for at least a year after you quit.

Stomach Changes

Just after giving birth, your uterus is still hard and round (weighing about 2 1/2 pounds) and can be felt just by touching your naval.  It will also contract and make you feel like they left a baby inside of you when you nurse your newborn for the first few days.  I’m not kidding about this one either.  While I was in the hospital with Rives I would nurse him and have to do “labor breathing” during his feedings.  “They” say that by nursing your baby it helps your uterus to contract and get smaller quicker.  What “they” don’t say is that an epidural would be extremely helpful during this process.  If you are a parent of one child and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of your second child, good news…my nurse told me that the contracting uterus is more severe with each birth during nursing.  In about six weeks, it will weigh only 2 ounces and will no longer be felt by pressing on your abdomen.  Then why in the heck was I still wearing maternity clothes when my baby was EIGHT weeks old? That mysterious brown line that you may have had down the center of your lower abdomen during pregnancy will disappear.  False, still have it. But, unfortunately, those stretch marks you developed aren't going anywhere in the near future. Stretch marks tend to be bright red during and shortly after pregnancy, but they will eventually become more of a silver color and begin to blend in with your skin.  I’m going to go ahead a do a little bragging here.  My body has experienced so much with my three pregnancies.  I am sure I will never be back to my original weight (and I have made peace with that), I have saggy skin where I didn’t think saggy skin was possible, tucking in shirts are probably a thing of the past, my feet are bigger for goodness sake!  But I don’t have stretch marks!!!!!!!  I should embroider myself a shirt that says that.  I didn’t do anything during my pregnancies to prevent them either.  I think my skin is just able to accommodate a large amount of weight.  Hmmmmm, that doesn’t sound like a good thing now that I hear it out loud.  Also, even the fittest moms will experience some flabbiness in the midsection after giving birth. Sit-ups, certain yoga poses, and other abdominal exercises can get your tummy as flat as it once was. Or a tummy tuck.

Swollen legs and varicose veins

The swelling and puffiness in your legs that you may have experienced during pregnancy will lessen very quickly after you give birth. If you are thinking 30 minutes is “very quickly” then I am sorry to disappoint you.  It is more like one and a half WEEKS (depending on how long your labor is and how much fluid they pumped into your system during the process).  I left the hospital, after I had Nora, more swollen and puffy than I had been during the 39 weeks I was pregnant with her.  Shoes barely fit on my feet.  Now, I peed like a race horse most of the time because I was so full of fluid but my face still looked like a beach ball in most post partum pictures. However, some women begin experiencing twitchiness in their legs postpartum. If this happens to you, walking can provide some relief.  I’ve heard that walking also helps to get rid of the 40 pounds that are gained during pregnancy.  Wait, what?  Not everyone gains 40 pounds?  Oh. Spider veins and varicose veins will probably improve with postpartum weight loss, but they will never go away completely. True statement.  Your legs will be purple, in spots, for the rest of your life.  Your new battle scars.

Sweating

You may start experiencing excessive sweating at night after giving birth. Or from the 2nd week of pregnancy, which is when I started getting “excessively hot” and sweating.  Those were some good times at our house…and good for the electric bill.  This is because your body needs to get rid of all the extra fluids it accumulated during your pregnancy. See above, ‘peed like a race horse’I should mention that I have always enjoyed the house a touch cooler than most people prefer their homes.  I will not apologize for that.  If you come over, bring a sweater….I am still getting “rid of extra fluids accumulated during pregnancy.”

Energy Levels

Some new mothers say that they feel more energetic than they ever did before pregnancy. And they are liars. And probably 18.  Or, they have a gun held to their head and are being threatened with lifelong torture…that torture is life with a newborn.  In fact, a woman's aerobic capacity can increase up to 20 percent in the first six weeks postpartum. I do not understand this AT ALL.  As a recipient THREE c-sections I was under strict orders to do nothing for 6 weeks.  I am a girl who follows rules.  And when I had my third c-section, it literally felt like my organs were going to slide out of my incision if I lay on my side.  I am not kidding about that at all.  In my case the statement should read “a woman’s aerobic capacity can increase up to 2 percent in the first six months postpartum”…that’s more my speed. Other women say that the sheer exhaustion of childbirth, caring for a newborn, and excess body weight makes them feel sluggish and moody.  Yes, Amen.  Those are real women, those “other women”.  They must have two or more kids and are in their late 20’s or early 30’s.  These are the ones I trust.

The last section is completely my own

Heart

I know you have all heard it before, but before kids, you have the heart like the Grinch, before Christmas.  And after you have kids, your heart grows three sizes (just like the Grinch, after Christmas)…I’m almost positive that is one of the reasons why a new moms boobs get so big, their heart has grown so much.  Every time I saw one of my kids, fresh from delivery, I could not believe how intense the feeling was…hearing the cry for the first time and then seeing their puffed up, crying little face-well, it’s amazing!  But your heart never stops growing (much like my rear end).  Each new thing that your baby does makes you love them all over again.  I want to pick Rives up and eat him (and moms understand that sentence).  I love Nora and Elyn so much and my heart literally hurts when I think that one day, they will not need me or want to tell me something first.  Ugh.  Is all the damage to my body worth it?  Yes.  Okay, mostly worth it.  Ha ha-kidding, totally worth it.  The damage has made me a better person and grown my heart into the heart of a mom.

Well done, Parents magazine, on your article…even if you left a few key points out.  I was happy to add them in…for a little bit of a more realistic perspective of motherhood.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Long nights

My sweet boy has been sick.  He cried on and off all night.  I never went into his room because he would only cry for about 10 seconds every hour or two.

He woke up at 6am, so I nursed him and put him back to bed.  I fed him in the dark and kept my eyes closed for the majority of the feeding.  I was basically asleep-ha!

He went back to sleep until 7:45am.  When I got him up I noticed that he had little red bumps all over his face.  And he was crying.  Poor baby!  I took his temp and it was 101.

I am NOT a panicky mom and remain pretty calm (most of the time).  So, I did not panic.  I figured it was just a virus.  Of course, the nurse asks me if he had been exposed to chicken pox when I called to make an appointment for Rives to see our doctor.  Was that necessary?  (Not chicken pox, btw)

Turns out he has a virus and an ear infection.  I had no idea that his ear was even bothering him.  Hmmmmmm, I felt like mother of the year.  We’re really hoping that the $40 prescription will clear up the ear infection quickly and Rives can get back to his happy self.

When we got back from the doctors office, it was GORGEOUS outside.  Poor Elyn had been cooped up in the house with me and her fussy brother all day, so we got out of the van and started playing in the front yard, we didn’t even take our stuff inside.  She was so happy!

Eventually, I did go inside to get Rives exersaucer, so he play.

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We are praying that Rives sleeps better tonight and that he starts feeling better soon.  I hate it when one of my kids doesn’t feel good!

On the upside to Rives not feeling well and both girls getting up at 6:30, all 3 kids were in bed by 7:00!  And asleep by 7:01.  We love early nights at this house.

The weather is so unusual!  I am a little sad that we are not having a winter.  I adore a snow day and want the girls to experience a fun day sledding and making snow people and having snow ball fights.  But I’m also a little concerned about how many bugs are going to be around this summer.  yea.

I am really enjoying the extra play days outside though!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

8 months old

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EIGHT MONTHS OLD!!!!  Wow.  I say it every month, but I cannot believe it!  Please slow down time, just a little bit.

What are you up to?

  • You, obviously, had a recent haircut (your fourth).  We are not crazy about the haircut and didn’t think it would be quite so short.  Ah well, guess it will be a while until number 5.
  • You are moving everywhere!  You have not mastered crawling forward yet, we think it is going to happen ANY SECOND.  You can get up on all fours and rock forward, like you are ready to take off and then, you fall on your tummy.  You are a master backwards scooter.  I am constantly rescuing you from underneath tables and dressers.  You are also really good at scooting on your bottom.  I think this next month you are going to take off and prove that we are not prepared at all for your mobility.
  • You have two teeth (on the bottom) and I am pretty sure you are working on another one.  You are soaking wet all the time because of drool and have been a little fussy lately.  The only other time in your life you were really fussy was when you got the other teeth.  Sadly, when you got two teeth, you also got two ear infections.  I really, really, really hope that this is not the case this time.
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  • You have a definite preference for your mommy!  Tonight, I got home from teaching and walked through the door and said, “Hi!”  Daddy had you upstairs, getting your pajamas on and you immediately started talking and calling out.  He said you were so excited the entire way downstairs to find me.
  • You continue to be extremely adaptable.  I am amazed at how good natured you are if you miss a nap or don’t eat when it is time.  You don’t mind taking one of your naps in the car and thank goodness for that because you get at least one nap a day while in route to get your sisters.
  • If I am making dinner or folding laundry, you are content to sit on the floor and play with your toys, as long as I am nearby.
  • You love your sisters and light up when you see them.  You tolerate them pretty good when they over love you.  Oh, Rives, they do love you so much!  They want nothing more than to see you laugh and for you to smile at them.  They NEVER complain if I ask them to sit with your or help you out in some way.  They love you!
  • You constantly make me think that it would be easy to have a fourth baby.  However, we will NOT be having a fourth baby (unless God has a greater sense of humor than I think).  Because you will be a toddler one day.  A moving, active toddler.  I am so thankful that God gave us you for our final child…our boy.

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  • You are not the best eater in the family (your daddy still holds that title).  Actually, you are the worst.  Sorry buddy.  You’re a great nurser, and I’m pretty sure you will never want to give that up, but not a big fan of real food.  I “slave” over your food, making it for you with my own hands (geez, already with the “mom guilt”).  You like to spit the food at me…not funny mister.  I will continue to make you GOURMET baby food and cross my fingers that your palate improves.
  • You weigh (total guess here) about 18 pounds.  You wear 6-9 month clothes and a size 3 diaper.  Even though you are much bigger at 8 months than your sisters were, you are still in the lowish percentile for boys.  Everyone thinks you look like your daddy so you will probably get his crazy metabolism too.  Lucky duck.
  • The past two times I have been gone at your bedtime, you won’t take a bottle.  Uh oh.  Looks like I better not get too far away from you for the next few months.  Good thing you’re cute.
  • You babble a lot.  Your favorite thing to repeat is “dadadadadadadada”.  Eh, maybe referring to your daddy.  Maybe.  I think I heard you say “ma” yesterday.  If you want to call me “Ma”…well, that won’t work.  So, let’s start saying “mamamamamamamama”.

Can you believe you are almost one?  ME EITHER!!!!!  Let’s enjoy this month, ok!  I love you buddy!

Monday, January 16, 2012

It's really January?????

Because today is Martin Luther King, Jr day and he had a dream that all families spend the day together, we did!

We got up this morning and took a family "run". I was super impressed with my girls! (Rives took the lazy way out and lounged in the stroller the entire time.). Nora rode her scooter for almost 3 miles and Elyn ran/walked for the same distance. Way to go girls! They will be running literal circles around me very soon! Ok, who am I kidding....they already do!

After the exercise, Matthew and Rives went for a haircut (Rives' fourth!)


Such a cute kid!

After lunch, we came home and Matthew and the girls went outside to rake leaves and dump them in the ditch by our house:


I cannot believe it is the middle of January!

I really, really, really love a snow day. Not 11 snow days, but at least one or two. With the way the weather has been acting lately, my snow days don't look like they are going to happen, sigh.

We are enjoying our time outside though....even if it's the leaves we are playing in and not the snow.


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Friday, January 13, 2012

The differences between boys and girls

I have had several people ask me in the past 7 months if I have noticed a big difference between girls and boys.

Well, other than the obvious anatomy, no, I haven’t seen many differences.  (And I stand firm in my belief that changing a girl diaper is easier/quicker than changing a boy diaper.)

I mean, he’s 7 (almost 8!) months old.  He does pretty much the exact same things the girls did at the same age.  He is eating, sleeping, moving, trying to put EVERYTHING in his mouth, laughing, fussing, experiencing.

When Elyn was born, 19 months after Nora, I wasn’t too far from the infant/baby stage.  I remember how DIFFERENT they were as babies!

Nora-high maintenance, FABULOUS sleeper and eater, slow to roll over, crawl and walk (well, slowish), no arguments with what she wore, great in the car, only had to be told once not to do something, would sit on the floor with her toys or books and be content for quite a while all alone, very cautious to do anything new.

Elyn-such a good baby…rarely cried, didn’t mind going to other people, ok sleeper and eater, quick to roll over, crawl and walk (well, quickish), ALWAYS argued with what she wore, good in the car but gets antsy pretty quickly…she needed a LOT of activities to keep her occupied on long trips, had to be told multiple times to quit doing something and even then would step right up to the line of disobedience many, many times, would play with toys or books for approximately 30 seconds by herself before she wanted to be around other humans, would dive head first into a new experience.

Hmmm, both girls are still the same.

My girls are SO different from each other!  And I am so thankful for that!  I love that they each have their own, unique personality.  I remember when Elyn was a toddler and was so active and defiant, mothers of boys would say, “Just wait until you have a boy!”  When they said that to me I would think, I’m sure a boy will be different from Elyn…just like Elyn is different from Nora!

I realize that once Rives hits mobility and toddlerhood, he will be different from the girls.  I know that as he grows, his mood swings and temperament will be completely different from his sisters’.  I understand that as a teenager his mind will work differently (and thank you God for his daddy who will be there to relate that teenage boy mind) from a female teenager.  I am aware that as an adult, as a man, he will react and act with a slower, more deliberate manner than his adult sisters’ will.

God created man and woman differently-again, thank you God for Your wisdom, You knew what we needed.

I have been thinking recently, if I would have had a girl and then a boy, would I equate the differences in my children as differences between a girl and a boy?  I will never know, obviously.  God gave us two girls first.  I see the differences in my girls as differences in PERSONALITY.

And, at 7 months of age (almost 8!) I see the differences in Rives and the girls as differences in HIS personality.  I am confident that I will see girl/boy differences as he gets bigger, and I really look forward to that!  I am excited to parent both genders and feel honored that God has blessed me with girls and a boy.

Boys and girls…God is so creative!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

I started teaching again tonight!!!!! I was so excited! And my voice is killing me-ha!!!! I didn't realize how much talking I usually do on the first night with going over the syllabus and answering the 1 million questions that are inevitable. Two of my students are brand new to the program, so bless their hearts, they have questions they don't even know about yet-ha!


Don't you just love that little smile...such a sweet boy! He is getting ready to go on a jog with Matthew. Matthew is training for a marathon with our friends Michael and Josh. They are crazy. I am always amazed at matthew's athleticism! I don't know why because I know he is very athletic, but EVERY SINGLE TIME he does something requiring some "skilz", he delivers. Yeah, I know, you're jealous. I'm really hoping that our kids get a good ratio of his Athletic genes to my drama genes (my high school extra curricular).

Rives has not eaten in the middle of the night the past two nights-woo hoo! While I really do not mind getting up with him at night (most of the time) I was getting a little bit frustrated because he is at least 18 pounds and, when he was eating, it was mostly just to soothe him back to sleep. So, when he has woken up the past two nights, I have gone in a made sure he had his paci and then have exited the room...to much crying. Kind of breaks my heart, but I am TIRED! He usually quiets down in about 10 minutes and then sleeps until 6am...see, he doesn't need to eat! I'm hoping there will just be a few more nights (fingers crossed, maybe zero!) of him waking and crying before he realizes that I mean business.

Nora is doing such a good job with her reading! I am so proud of her! She is such a perfectionist and that makes me sad. I hate when she is hard on herself and when she doubts herself and her abilities. I feel like I need to do a better job of building her up and all that. Sigh. Never ending guilt! She is such good girl! We have been dealing with some very human things lately. The thing that comes to my mind immediately is "lying". They have been very insignificant lies in the grand scheme of things, but a lie is a lie!!!! I've had some good advice with how to deal with the lying. I am so prayerful that her sweet heart is convicted and she realizes how hurtful and destructive lying can be. She is a precious girl and is loves to be loved.

She is also a budding party planner! Her sixth birthday is February 23 and she has been planning her party since November!!!!! She has a cardboard box, that she keeps in the hall closet, with all of her plans and invitation lists and decorating ideas. She looks in it and adds stuff to it about once a week. Now that we have entered 2012, the party talk and planning has really stepped up a notch. She will frequently get in the car after school and the first words out of her mouth have to do with another idea. I'm starting to get a little nervous that I might not deliver her dreams!!! She made another list of people to invite last night. This time it was a list of the adults. (yes, we know her numbers are backwards and reversed...developmental people.). Look at the left side of the picture and then at the close up on the right side. She didn't want anyone to be left out!


Sweet girl!Elyn is still as fun as ever! She is such a good big sister to Rives (and so is Nora, Elyn is just around him more and I am able to witness more one-on-one time between the two of them). Rives has started crawling backwards and it is hilarious to me when Elyn gets on the floor beside him and starts talking to him and crawling backwards with him. She'll reposition him if he gets in a bind too. So sweet!!! She really wants to go jogging with Matthew, i bet she would make it pretty far too.


She is still super particular about what she will wear each day and it drives me nuts-haha! There are so many cute dresses hanging in her closet but she would rather wear jeans tucked into boots over anything else. Hmmmmm, perhaps she has seen mommy wear that same thing a lot recently. Maybe if I wore more cute dresses she would too. She is her own person and nothing I can say will change that...I am so very thankful for that character trait (even if it does make me want to pull my hair out DAILY).


I look at our three kids and CANNOT BELIEVE that we have them! I am exhausted at the end of the day. My house is a wreck at the end of every day. I can either play with my kids, let them play with their toys, have conversations with them while I cook and enjoy my family OR I can make sure everything is constantly picked up. I choose the first one. Now, do I flip out about every six days at the state of our house? absolutely. It's a favorite of Matthew and the kids, I'm sure-ha! But I try to have the girls pick up their toys before they go to bed and after they are in bed, I will try and pick up the rest of the stuff that has somehow scattered all over the house. I swear little gremlins come in during the day and make the stuff multiply. And then nights like tonight, I sit on the couch and Matthew picks up everything. I over nights like that!We're supposed to have a dusting of snow this week...yea! But then it's going to get warmer next week-boo! I am excited for at least one or two good snow days!!!!-Dallas

Location:Back to normal, I think

Thursday, January 05, 2012

The video

Here he is, figuring it all out.  He has already done so much more since I took this video.

He has been a bit of a stinker the last few nights.  I do not know what is wrong with him, but sleeping is not his favorite.  Matthew and I probably each got about 3 hours of sleep last night.  From the hours of 4-6 I just camped out on the floor of his room with some pillows from my bed and a blanket from the guest room.  I woke up with a pain in my neck.  I am hopeful that tonight will be better!  He is not running any fever, does not appear to be teething, his nose is not stopped up.  He’s a mystery.

But, when I went in this morning to get him up, he laughed and smiled when he saw me.  Precious boy!  Worth the missed sleep!

Monday, January 02, 2012

Is it okay to knock him down?

Rives is 7.5 months old! I KNOW!!!!!!! How did that happen? I cannot believe he is going to be ONE this year!!! Excuse me while I go weep... Ok, I'm back. Rives has been pretty active lately (insert cute picture):


He has been sitting for quite a while (Although, who knows how long because I couldn't get it together to write it down in my blog and we all know I don't keep a baby book...beating myself up over it!). He has recently started crawling backwards (army crawl) and would find himself trapped under furniture which led to a piercing cry like his legs were being cut off. Well, tonight he decided to go from tummy to all fours to sitting-ALL BY HIMSELF!!!!!!! I have it on video but am not smart enough to figure out how to upload it from my iPad. We are going to start baby proofing things around here PRONTO! And if he makes it to the age of one without chocking on a Barbie accessory, I will consider it a small miracle! Dallas

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Twenty-twelve

Happy New Year! My new years resolutions include paying more attention to my blog, I really REALLY want to focus on documenting my kids lives. I did such a good job until 7 months ago...I'm excited about writing again. It is very therapeutic for me and I have missed it!

Another resolution that I have made for me and Matthew is to have a date night at least once a month. We always spend time together after the kids go to bed but we need to be more deliberate in our alone time together. There is no one in this world I would rather spend time with! If you would like to sign up to watch our kids for us, I will get a spreadsheet going-ha!

We have one more day of vacation and then it is back to routine, I love a routine but I will be honest, I am not looking forward to the alarm clock going off, dragging kids out of bed, making lunches or having arguments about what are appropriate school clothes. I know the girls are excited about getting back to school and seeing their friends again.

Ok, good first post. Tomorrow-pictures!

-Dallas

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