Another six months of changing from my biggest kids

Six months seems to be the magic number...I was just thinking I should update on things my older kids can do that they couldn't six months ago, and sure enough, I posted this the first time in March, just about six months ago.

Here are some new things they can do....

- Unload the dishwasher (Micah) and assist me in cleaning the bathrooms (Mackenna)
- Make their beds
- Go places at night without falling asleep in the car (well, mostly)
- Memorize references to go with Bible verses and quote the correct verse when prompted with a question
- Micah can sound out cvc words and definitely knows what letter almost any word starts with.
- Mackenna is awesome at rhyming words.
- Write their names easily
- Ride a bike with training wheels
- Get themselves dried off after a bath and put on their PJ's by themselves
- Mackenna now sleeps in underwear without a single accident.
- Micah loves adding on his fingers.
- Ride kiddie rollercoasters and like them (especially Mackenna).


I love them.

Before I finish, I wanted to record a little something about being the mom of twins. There have been times in the past four years where it really isn't like I have twins; it is just like I have two kids and the things I struggle with are the things that every mom of two kids struggles with. However, there have also been some unique twin mom times too. (Potty training two at once comes to mind.) I'm at another one of those unique times. Micah and Mackenna are two very unique lovable individuals - who just happened to be born on the same day. They are different players, imaginers, learners, etc. Micah shows a real aptitude right now for learning - he is ready to read and likes trying. She isn't quite there yet, which is totally fine since she is still a young four years old. She loves books, probably more so than him. So I am at this difficult place of figuring out how to encourage him and be excited for him without discouraging her or making her hate books. Also, the decision of when to start kindergarten is always a challenge for parents...but we are faced with making a decision that is best for each individual child but is also best for the pair of children. It isn't easy. Praying for a lot of mom wisdom.

Also, since I'm seeking to see my children as individuals, I recently made a change to our rest time routine to allow for more one on one time. Here is what we are doing now.
- Monday - family day so each week is different
- Tuesday - my "Monday" so the twins will do rest time together on my bed listening to audio books while I do laundry, clean, etc.
- Wednesday - Mackenna gets time with mom while Micah gets to pick all the audio books for his own rest time
- Thursday - we switch and Micah gets time with mom
- Friday - Movie day


So far so good....

Mom Week

Where is the time going? 

We had a wonderful mother's day weekend last weekend - at least I did. Jocelyn and I were able to go the beach alone on Saturday while the older kids did some mother's day stuff with dad. I stayed home with Jocelyn from church on Sunday because of a gunky nose, and that was nice in its own respect. Curt did a great job of making lunch and giving me as much down time as possible on Sunday and Monday. I have a sweet family.

They have also said some cute stuff this week too. I've been waiting until I felt in a more "eloquent" or "sappy" mood to write this stuff out. That's not going to happen, so here it goes...

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As we were getting ready for church - 
Mackenna, to Jocelyn: "She's so big."
Me: "I know, how did she get so big?"
Mackenna: "She growed."..... (sensing that I was not okay with this fact) "I don't want you to stop her."
Me: "But then she'll be as big as you."
Mackenna: "I know, she has to grow. That's what big kids do."

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When I tried to wake Micah when he fell asleep during listen books at "rest" time - 
Mackenna: "We should just leave him alone."

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Mackenna: "Can I have another one of your treats?"
Me: "No, they are mine."
Mackenna: "It's okay, I just want some of them."

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Micah, to me: "What are your favorite colors?"
(We go through a whole list, and he picks out those colors to use in his coloring picture.)
Micah: "I'm just going to try them and see if I like them."
(He tries them)
Micah: "Okay, I like them, so I can use them."

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Mackenna, praying: "Thank you for this wonderful day. Thank you for this wonderful world. Thank you for Mother's Day."

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Micah: "When will it be the next Mother's Day?"
Me: "Well, can't every day be Mother's Day?"
Micah: "No, then we won't have our next Christmas."

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Mackenna, to Daddy: "When I get bigger and Micah goes with you to work then I'll stay with mommy and we'll watch the babies."

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Daddy, to Mackenna: "Look at my two pretty girls. Do you think Jocelyn is pretty?"
Mackenna: "Yes."
Daddy: "You know, when she grows up, she's going to look up to you, and you need to be a good example for her."
Mackenna: "When I grow up, I'm going to tell her what to do."

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(Although I couldn't catch the details, I did overhear a conversation between M&M tonight about how they were going to get married and they would kiss everytime Mackenna said so.)

An Instagram "10 on 10"

A little bit of Daisy to start our day.


Me and my girls - while my son checks out the trains.


Mackenna was naming the dwarfs. This one she called "Yawny."


Love this shot. (I have found sunglasses really improve a picture of my kids...can't really tell if they are looking or not :)


This handsome guy was there with us too :)           {Photo edit by Mackenna}


A couple of different shots of one scene.


Love watching my little artist develop...and love her brother too.


It seriously is like just wearing a permanent hug.


My Marie-Wearing-Girl meets Marie!
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Another lovely shot and edit by the talented Mackenna.


It may have taken a little bit of bribing, but they had so much fun on Soarin.' Even rode it twice.


My favorite backseat view, and my kids favorite Mickey ears. A good end to a day and a getaway.


Don't worry. My "11 on 11" would have been much less exciting and "glamorous." I promise you.

Valentine's Day 2012

A couple of things I overheard on this happiest of love days.

As Daddy's car pulled in the driveway after work, Micah: "Let's take a pause and go hug Daddy."

As I got back in the car after a quick trip into the grocery store (to get some fruit to take for dinner to a friend's house, a friend who fed us twice today!), Mackenna: "I love you Micah." Micah: "I love you Mackenna." Did I mention they were holding hands as they said this?



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I thought it would be fun to interview the kids about their love interests today. Here are their interviews:

Micah:






What do you love? "I love you, mommy, and I love Mackenna, and Daddy, and Elliana, and Audrey, and....umm, uh...Ava and Faith, and Autumn, and Lily, and um, I love, our friend Audrey, and what else...

What shows do you love? "Busy World, that's the first one, and Busy Town, and that's the second one, and....I like, um, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, that's the fourth one,...what other shows are on? I like Einsteins, that's the fourth, that's another one). I like Phonics Farm, that's the fieth one. Those are all the shows I like.

What do you love about Daddy? "When he wants to play with me, and when he goes to work, and what else, I love when um, Daddy drives back to our house, and what else, and I love when um we um when he goes to get something for me."

What do you love about Mackenna? "I love that she rides her bicycle fast. I love that she plays with me sometimes. I love when she does her work. That's all."

What do you love about Jocelyn? "I love that she smiles at me when I smile at her. And I love that I took a picture with her and I hold her. And...I think that's all."



What about mommy? "I love that you pick me up sometimes. I love that I give hugs to you. I love that you kiss daddy. And, I think that's all."

How can you show people that you love them? "By being happy. By sharing."

Do you remember the verse we learned about love? Love is.... "kind." And what else? Love is......"patient."

Do you know that I love you? "Yeah."
How long will I love you? "I think for a long times. And you'll love Mackenna for a long times."

"Is that all? I want to go back outside."



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Mackenna:



Who do you love? "What do you have special for me?"
No, this conversation is the special thing I wanted to do with you. Who do you love? "Elliana, I don't like anyone else."
What about Micah and daddy? "No."
Do you want to go back outside and play? "Mm hmm"

Well, that went well.
And to further endear herself to her mother, once we got back outside, she proceeded to tell me that I had a big belly. Thanks sweetie.


We tried again later.

Who do you love? "I love Lily and I love Elliana and I love Emma and I love the friend at the castle park, And I like...that's all."
What about your family? "mmmmm...I like baby Jocelyn."
What about Micah and Daddy? "I like Micah and Daddy and You and Maggie and Christa and Audra and Nana and Allison and Grandma and Grandma Snyder. That's all the friends I love."

What are some things you love? "I love everything in the world. parks. and Indiana. and houses. and that's all the things I like."

What do you love about Daddy? "I love work. I love when daddy plays and I like babies with Daddy. And I like kids that daddy draws for me. I love to play with him and I like to play with Micah with Daddy. And I like stickers to play with my notebook."

What do you love about Micah? "Micah does good things and play with me and show good surprises for me. And he shows pictures of me. And he shows good bows."

What do you love about Jocelyn? "I love her playing and saying "uh ga ga" and I love her to talk for me and I love her to snuggle with me on the couch. And I love her so much that I wholly love all my friends."



"And I love all the friends I like."

What do you love about mommy? "I like you to show me things and good surprises. And put bows in my hair. And I like you to play with me. And I like good pictures to show me."

How can you show people that you love them? "Show them how to play with me and how to play games."

"Audra is bigger than me but I'm still her best friend."

Do you remember the verse about Love? Love is..."kind. Love is peaceful too." What else? Love is.... p p p ..... patient. "Oh. Patient. And kind and peaceful."

Do you know that I love you? "uh-huh"
How long will I love you? "This long." (hands stretched out wide)
How much do I love you? "This long." (hands close together) "Or this long." (hands stretched out) "Like four pickles in a row."

"What is love about? Kindness, and peace for the shepherds."



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A few more pictures of my three second favorite Valentine's:

Little Bit has turned me into a Home Girl

We went to the park today. This didn't used to be a note worthy event. I was always a go go go mom. The term "stay at home" mom should have been changed to "get out of the home with the kids mom" when it was applied to me. However, things have changed. I can count on one hand the number of times I have taken the kids anywhere this month. And it doesn't bother me one bit. I am liking staying home. Partly because it is all I have the energy for, but also because it is a nice place to be, with nice people filling it. Little Bit has been taking really killer naps, which also leads to us staying home more so that she can take these amazing, only used to read about in books, kinds of naps. Also, I've been sick for two months; so there's that. The older two are a little restless, but the questions of, "are we going somewhere today" are taming down a bit. We are all getting settled into a January routine of being home. It is kind of nice.

Top Quotes from my week - from all three of my babies

We'll go from oldest to youngest:

Micah:
He had woken up from a deep sleep sometime before midnight on Monday night. He came out into the living room in a sweaty panic. He was crying and asking for a drink....repeatedly and very "passionately." We tried to calm him down, and Curt went to get him a drink. I asked him to come sit next to me on the couch. I ran my fingers through his hair and let him calm down a bit. I asked him if he had a bad dream. He quickly said yes. I was pleased to hear some reason for his panic. I asked him what the dream was about. He responded (in his after sobbing, broken voice), "I dreamed that I couldn't have a drink."



Mackenna:
I was feeding Jocelyn yesterday and it wasn't going very well. She was distracted and a little angry. Mackenna was right in her face and kind of making at least one of us claustrophobic. I told Mackenna I was going to go feed Jocelyn in my room. She wanted to come with us, and I told her no, that I needed to go to a quiet place. A little while later, when I was done, I called for Mackenna to come do something for me. She said she couldn't because she was feeding her baby. Still in the other room, I asked if I could come see. Without missing a beat, she said, "No, this is my quiet place." I did make it out to the living room not only to see her nursing her baby but also to see her holding her shirt up and out of the way with her mouth, the exact way I frequently do it during nursings. I was in awe of what she had absorbed.



Jocelyn:
Prerequisites to understanding this encounter: 1.) We visited potential preschools for M&M today 2.) While I was feeding Jocelyn, I was watching the DVR'ed Parenthood episode about Haddie going off to college.
Jocie was sitting on my lap smiling up at me after eating. This inspired me to have a little chat with her. I told her that she was my precious, beautiful little baby. I commented that she would not always be little. One day she would be big and go to preschool and even go off to college some day. I asked her if she would remember her mama and all the great care I provided her in these days. She responded by filling her pants. I took that as a yes.



(About the pictures: My elder two lovelies happily chose to lay side by side, sharing a blanket and pillow, while they watched some Sesame Street. Be still my heart. My youngest little lovebit has become a two finger sucker and that last photo shows her showing off her new obsession and clinging onto my old obsession - the pink blankie that I passed on to Mackenna who somewhat rejected it and passed it on to Jocelyn. I have two daughters. How did this happen?!)

Mom Thoughts - Disjointed Style

Yesterday a friend shared this post on facebook, about "not seizing the day with our kids." I really appreciated what she had to say. I think she is right on about it not being possible or even important to love and adore every minute we have with our children. Some moments, like cleaning puddles of pee off the floor, are just not lovable. I do think it is very important that we still love our kids in those moments, that we are still grateful for them, that we wouldn't trade our children away for one second of not having to go through those moments, but we don't have to have a fake appreciation for those actual moments. I agree with her, I am very thankful that I am a mom and I know that later I will be thankful and sentimental about the fact that I was able to mother, but it doesn't mean that I will have loved every moment of the mothering. Trying to make myself feel that way every second of the day just loads me with unnecessary guilt. Not a great situation.

A similar situation I am deals with how I am dealing with my sweet little bundle of J becoming a sweet bigger bundle of J. I very much want to "rock my baby because babies don't keep." However, my sweet baby does not want to be rocked. When she has had it, she wants to be swaddled and laid in her bed. Am I bad mother or am I not savoring these moments if I go ahead and do what she wants and what is best for her and just lay her in bed? I have to believe that I am not. However, it is easy to beat myself up for not cuddling her more or rocking her more, with the well meaning sayings of many older ladies running through my head. "Mom Guilt" - yuck. The truth is that I can't slow down time and I can't make her want something she doesn't want. I know she will cuddle with me again one day. Until then, I will keep loving her and taking care of her and meeting her needs when she expresses them (as soon as she does, if possible). I will tell her early and often how much she means to me. I will sing to her and pray for her. I will photograph her and journal about her. But I won't rock her - its not what she needs right now.



A p.s. about the article I linked to at the top. I did read the "about me" section of the mom's blog. We are not coming from the same perspective when it comes to God and what it means to live for him and glorify him. This has also caused me to think a lot. Not sure what else to say about that right now.

The best job in the world

The kids asked where daddy went yesterday. I told them that he went to work. The conversation somehow went to what would happen if I went to work also. I asked them if they would stay home by themselves. That was the end of it - I thought. Today, as Micah and I were taking a trip to Walmart, he turned to me and said, "I think if you and daddy both went to work, someone else would take care of us." I'm so thankful that I had the time to look him right in the eye, touch him, and say, "I'm so thankful that I get to stay home and take care of you. It is the best job in the world. I love being your mommy." I need to tell him more often.

Being their mom really is a blessing - getting to stay home with them is just the icing on the cake.

I get to see things like this:



And this:



And hold things like this:



And hear things like this:
"Thank you for the kiss mommy." (After I had kissed Micah's head while laying down with him during rest time. A nonsolicited thank you.)


And say things like this:
"Don't panic."
"Who has to go potty?"
"Don't pet Jocelyn."

Grown up conversations with my oldest daughter

Curt and I were able to go on a date on Monday night, with our favorite little sidekick, Miss J. Before we left, Mackenna asked us why we were going.

Me: "We are going to on a date because we love each other."

M: "You love each other because you got married?"

That comment made me smile, but it also made me think. I obviously love Curt for more reasons than just because "I married him." But I can think of many worse lessons for my daughter to learn in her life than to love her husband because they got married. It would say a lot for the commitment and permanence. Although, I do plan on showing her a true, growing, committed, passionate, appreciative love that I have for my wonderful husband (who let me sleep in this morning to try and fight off this cold going around our house).

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When I got home, I went to check on the kids. Mackenna was wide awake and asked me where I went.

Me: "I went to dinner."

M: "Was it fun?"

Me: "Yes"

M: "What did you eat?"

Me: "A chicken sandwich"

M: "Oh yummy." (Smelling my stomach) "I can smell it in your belly."

One month really changes one's perspective

Six weeks ago, I would have felt "bad" leaving Curt with Micah and Mackenna for almost six days. I would have thought that was a lot of work for one person. Now, I found myself thinking, "two kids? two kids who sleep all night? that is nothing." I thought the same thing for myself, "one kid? one kid who doesn't whine or talk back or disobey? that is nothing." I can handle one kid. I can handle two kids. I am really still in a learning process of how to handle three kids. (Well, three kids and only one parent. When two parents/adults are around, that is a different story!)


I was very overwhelmed last night, thinking about all that needed to be done and how tired I was/am. It is true, not sleeping for more than 2.5 to 3.5 hours at a time for 5 weeks really does wear on you. Curt encouraged me to go to bed. He then told me that you never know, "maybe tonight is the night." He said that needs to be my new attitude. That made me laugh.

Just when I was overwhelmed, God blessed me with another visit from Marcia today. She called at just the perfect time, and she came down and spent some late morning/early afternoon time with me. She made lunch for the twins while I fed Jocelyn. I was able to make the kids the smoothies they had been asking for. She played with them while I was able to fold and put away the laundry and make it so I can walk through my bedroom again - some of the things that were so overwhelming to me last night. What a blessing.

I didn't realize how much I had gotten used to having "me time" when the kids went to bed around 8:00. Time to regroup, clean, do a project, watch TV, catch up on internet. Now that that "me time" is more "we time" with the J girl and myself, I feel a little out of control. Things that I thought would be "no big deal" (like making super easy Halloween costumes), really are a big deal. The toys don't get picked up, the dishes stay in the sink, the bedrooms explode. I know this is okay, but it really can be overwhelming to feel so bad at everything. I am good at handling one thing at a time, but that isn't how life goes, somehow you are supposed to figure out how to do lots of things at a time and not fall off the bicycle you are riding while doing those lots of things. Maybe I need to put on some training wheels.

So, yes, motherhood is hard. I have found myself saying "this is hard" a lot. Not sleeping is hard. Having three kids is hard. One day - one minute - at a time.

(Why am I writing this down instead of sleeping? Because I find myself in a pure panic when I think about how poorly my brain is working and how I am going to forget these precious days. I am going to go take a peaceful nap now, and I am going to work on keeping writing things down. All things in moderation.)

Disjointed thoughts

- My favorite quote from "The Help" so far is this..."Those bedrooms should be stacked full of kids laughing and hollering and pooping up the place." Who knew that we were doing it right the whole time!?

- I said to Micah today, "Micah, you can't tell Mackenna how to play. She is free to pretend however she wants to." Marcia was here and chimed in, "if you had a dime for every time you said that, you would be rich." She is right. Micah is controlling and definitely his sister's leader. This is an ongoing "issue" for us. Yesterday he said something like, "Mackenna, I am sad, but if we left the barn closed, I would be happy." We then worked out a compromise where we left the barn closed, but Mackenna got to play with all the pigs, even the brown pig. A minute later, Micah asked for the brown pig. When she didn't give it to him, he went off sulking in the other room. Mackenna so desperately wanted to play with him that she went and found him and gave him the brown pig. And today there was another comment about, "Mackenna, I would be happy if you would pretend to be a snake, but if you pretend to be a princess, I will be sad." Oh dear.

- Micah has really hooked onto the phrase "take a pause." Yesterday he asked me to take a pause from eating pizza and get him some water.

- When I asked Micah at dinner to look at my eyes, he started looking awkwardly at anything but my eyes - his pizza, his feet, the ceiling. If it wasn't so frustrating and tiring, it would be really cute!

- The twins got their MMR shot yesterday. The nurse asked which one wanted to go first, Mackenna said "me me" and hopped up on the table, didn't even want to sit in my lap. She didn't make one single noise before, during, or after the shot. Micah did the same thing. The nurse was shell shocked. I was very thankful.

- I think Jocelyn would like to be an only child. She doesn't sleep very deeply and the kids wake her up a lot. (Sometimes on purpose, like when they opened the door to my room, went in, and started touching her head in the bassinet. Sometimes just because they have no idea what an inside voice is.) This makes her fairly cranky. And she is 50/50 on the issue of whether she would like them in her face all. the. time.

- As far as sleep goes for Jocelyn, things are looking up. She took a really great afternoon nap yesterday and morning nap today, both in her bassinet. I have been using the sound machine, and it does really seem to help her fitful sleeping. She still stirs frequently, but doesn't fully wake up and dozes quickly back off to sleep. I also have been pleasantly surprised by her new ability to sometimes "put herself to sleep." She really wasn't doing this at all last week. Last night after she ate around 2 am, she was wide awake. She wouldn't eat any more, and Curt and I were really tired. He put her back in her bassinet, left the light partly on, and she eventually went to sleep. Yup, you heard that right; he left the light on. For some reason, if she is laid down awake, she is much more calm about it if it isn't dark. She really seems to want the light to be on. Weird. This morning after some wake time, she was starting to get fussy. I tried rocking her for a bit, but she wouldn't give in to sleep. I laid her in her bassinet, and she quickly dozed off. Yippee. She still isn't giving me any majorly long stretches at night (not giving me one long first stretch with shorter following stretches), but she is starting to go closer to four hours between nighttime feedings. Also, since I have been home, she hasn't had any long periods of just crying/screaming/awake/needing rocked/walked/etc at night.

- As far as sleep goes for Micah and Mackenna, we may be near the end of nap. I am hoping that this weekend, Curt and I can work on what it means to stay in bed and stay quiet, even if they don't fall asleep.

- At the risk of having cps called on me, here is a story from Monday. I'll preface it by saying that Jocelyn has since had her one month check up and is doing fine. I look up from the couch and see Mackenna carrying a "doll." I don't think much of it until a split second later when Curt comes running in and says, "Mackenna, what are you doing." Yup, the doll was Jocelyn. Mackenna told us that she had been crying and she wanted to bring her to us. Oh my. Oh my.

It's not for wimps, I tell you

As if I could forget...

Here is how my first day being a solo parent of three went:

7:30 PM night before my solo mission - hear my three year old daughter screaming like crazy during bathtime, realize that she has a sore throat and a fever
8:00 - feed baby
10:30 - feed baby
11:00 - give baby to husband to try to get to sleep
11:10 - start listening to baby cry
11:30 - keep listening to baby cry
12:00 - give up, take the baby back, move out of bedroom and into lazy boy to nurse and sleep with baby
3:00 - wake up with baby on chest, nurse, try to go back to bed
5:30 - feed baby
6:00 - hear older daughter yelling "mommy, I want you," bring her to bed with me
7:00 - joined in bed by my son
7:30 - get munchkins started on their morning shows and juice
7:40 - come back to crash in bed for a few minutes and hear my husband ask "do I have a fever?" (seriously, after I slept next to Mr. Germy all night?)
7:45 - convince dear sweet sick husband to stay home and sleep all morning

spend rest of morning alternating between feeding a baby, watching cartoons, playing cars, taking kids potty, getting dressed, feeding kids frozen waffles, convincing sick daughter to not touch two week old baby, taking all three kids to the doctor - one for a cord cauterization, one for a strep test, one just along for the ride, listen to baby scream on the way home from the doctor so that I can't justify stopping at Starbucks

at least I wasn't bored :)

What we are doing about Mackenna

After writing this post that definitely seemed to imply that I have "had it up to here" with my older daughter, I thought I should explain a little bit more. Things aren't going extremely smoothly in the Mackenna department, and I am reminded that massive change and being a little sinner isn't really a great combination. I obviously still love her more than life, and I would take a hundred more of her and a zillion more bad days with her if that is what God gives us, but we are trying to come out of this phase alive - all of us.

Since I do believe this phase is passing, and I tend to be forgetful, I thought it might be a good idea to write down some of the things we are doing to deal with our manic, emotional, confused, angry, wonderful, dear, sweet little girl.

Trying to snuggle with her more - when possible - this is obviously not all the time
Disciplining calmly and consistently
Saying yes when we can, no when we must
Answering her "are you happy" or "are you mad" questions with reaffirmations of our love for her and our unlove for her actions
Focusing on her behavior - telling her she has made a wrong choice, wrong response, wrong action, wrong words, wrong volume, etc. - not telling her to "fix her attitude"
Reminding her that disobedience has consequences, that consequences hurt, and that God has given us, her parents, the responsibility of showing her this
Praising her correct actions (not attitudes) when she does them
Asking for her to help with things (like folding clothes)
Reading to her while I nurse
Telling her to go potty more often - not waiting for her to fail, causing frustration on everyone's part
Telling her when it is a good time to hold Jocelyn. Encouraging her to take advantage of these times, not just the times that she wants to
Evaluating my offers to her before I make them (Considering how it may end up - will this end well? Although, many times her emotional responses are far too unpredictable. Who would have thought that opening the mail would lead to ruin.)
Telling her I love her and giving her as many hugs as possible - can never go wrong with this one, right?

And something that I should be doing more of about this situation....praying. You can pray with me.

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A few reminders that she isn't "all bad"

Mack (to me): I love you daddy
Me: Aww, that is nice, we should tell him
Mack: Yes, I want to tell him that. I like him. He is beautiful and nice. He is a good daddy.

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Me: Did you have a good nap
Mack: Yes, it was great. I liked it. I told Micah I loved him during nap.
Me: That is nice. It is good to love Micah.
Mack: Yes, he is the only boy I love.
Me: What about daddy?
Mack: Hahaha
Daddy: (Making sad face) you don't love me?
Mack: No, I can only love Micah. That is the only boy I can love.
Daddy: Well, that isn't bad, I guess. I don't want you growing up and getting married.
Mack: (Changing her tune) No, I like boys. Boys are nice.

I guess we'll keep her

This has been a different experience

I can't lie. This 2nd/3rd baby thing has been very different from my first experience. Not sure if it is the twin/single thing or just the 2nd time around thing, but I really like it. Here is a little of what comes to mind about what I mean...

I am willing to feed her for as long as she would like to hang out there. If she gets a little distracted, tired, or disinterested, we just take a break and cuddle for a bit and then try again. If this had been the twins, I would have taken those signs as "I'm done," and would have passed off the first twin to daddy so that I could feed the second. I do think she is getting more food this way, although I still maintain that the twins were getting a perfectly adequate amount!

I am loving the snuggles, even more so than with the twins. I know now that it goes so fast, that she won't always want to snuggle. I knew that last time, but this time I really know it. I also even more love just getting to sit and chill and snuggle, knowing that I'm doing exactly what I should be doing at that moment, not having to discipline or correct her, just give her love. That will change, and that will be okay, but this is really great.

Home isn't quiet anymore. I can't always sleep when she sleeps. My older two lovies are full of energy and needs; I am still their mom. I think about Curt and I's time just hanging out with our two brand new babies, and it is very different this time. I think that is part of the reason that I do love the after bed until late night feeding time slot. It is quiet and peaceful and reminds me of those "easier" days with just two babies!

Instead of getting kind of panicky, I get really excited about the idea of being home with just the baby. It feels like a cakewalk. I can take care of just a baby. We can snuggle, she can eat, I can change her...all doable things. Especially when you aren't combining it with potty accidents, fits, stories to read, trucks to play, etc.

I know that this baby stage and feeding all night will pass. I'm less frustrated with her when she wakes to eat at night. I'm still tired, sure, but I know that it will be over one day. She will sleep. I will sleep. We all will sleep again someday.

She is my third baby. I am so blessed.

There once was a girl...

There once was a girl with a curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid.

Enough said.