How the weeks fly by....

We've been quite busy the past month, and one might say we've overdone it!! Lots of fun has been had, but I am welcoming a slower pace in the month to come. Since the last post, we celebrated Davis's 6th birthday with a Skylander birthday party, I had a sample sale/trunk show, we celebrated out 9th wedding anniversary, Barron turned 40 and we had friends and family to the lake for Labor Day weekend, and then a dinner party to celebrate with friends! It's taken me two weeks to recover:) Emmy is now 8 weeks old and she's been smiling for at least a week now. Her smiles are pure joy to me, and it's a little glimpse into what her personality might be as she grows. She's also starting to "talk" by cooing back and forth with me. She's happiest after she eats and has burped. Those are the best moments I have with her! She's doing well at night for her age. For about two weeks we've been in a routine of her nursing between 8 and 9 for her "last feeding" and then not needing to nurse again until around 2 or 3 am. She will then get up again anywhere from 6 to 8 am.... depends on when the other feeding happens. Of course, some nights have been very off from that, but that's fairly typical. Her longest stretch happened one night a week ago from about 8 pm to 4 am! Hoping to get a repeat of that again soon! I feel like all I do is feed her. Her reflux medicine seems to be helping her a lot when she's nursing. Her naps are starting to get harder where she doesn't dependably sleep each round, as she was doing. Up until now, she has napped anywhere- the bassinet, the boppy pillow, the car seat, etc. I have just started trying to have her take some naps in her crib so that we can move her out of our room at night eventually. I am convinced I sleep better with her in the room because I am able to give her the paci and rock her and get longer stretches out of her, more so than if she was in her crib and I had to physically get up to soothe her. At least she seems to know her days from nights, and her only reason for getting up is to eat. And she spends most of her time sleeping in the bassinet and not with me, which is a great improvement. Eat-Awake-Sleep.... that's what we do!! I think she's doing better than the boys were at this stage (don't know for sure).  It's been tough to figure out her schedule so that it works with tang jack to/from school and picking davis up from the bus stop. Most days, I can do an 8-11-2-5 schedule so that she's "awake" when  we have to leave the house. It's more difficult on days like today where  she's off from that and I have to wake her to put her in her car seat when we have to leave. Totally messes up both up! She seems to be growing a lot and gaining weight-- she's a sweet baby. She definitely has fussy time in the evening, and some night she goes right to sleep after nursing, and others Barron stays up with her for an extra hour while she grunts, pushes and cries before passing out. Him doing that allows me to go ahead and go to bed and get an hour or more of sleep I would otherwise not get!
The boys seem well adjusted to her so far- they love to love on her and get too close-- but mostly they don't seem that affected overall. With Davis gone most of the day, Jack's getting more attention than usual instead of less. It's definitely a hard time because my time is really not my own anymore- but life keeps running like it is. I am behind on everything- some things I just let go. Others, I need to be better about because of the consequences of not getting things done. It's more about being mentally ready each day and prioritizing what needs to be done. I just lose steam mid-afternoon, which is when I need to most to get through the 5 pm to 7 pm time. In that time, I have to nurse Emmy, fix dinner for boys, then prepare dinner for Barron and me. The boys need to eat around 5:30 since they go to bed around 7pm... it's just a lot to pack in during that time!!
Anyways- boring post-- so here are a few pics from all we've done!

Emmy- August 16th

My crew

Davis turns 6! Aug. 16th

Skylander Birthday Party!

Stitches!

Family outing at the Chattahoochee

Emmy likes being outside. 

Ninth wedding anniversary dinner at Bistro Nikko.

Happy Birthday Dad! Barron turns 40.

Jack's first day of school!

Labor Day at the lake!

Starting to smile!

Waiting at the bus stop

Birthday dinner with friends and Chef Seth.

Labor Day at the Lake

Jack earns his Hulk costume

Smiles!! almost 8 weeks

SMILES ARE THE BEST!

Life as Usual

The jump from two to three hasn't been as big of a shock as the jump from one child to two.... it's amazing how Emmy seems to just fit right in to our household. Unless I'm totally missing it, the boys seem to have zero adjustment issues with her here, which is great. We have so many changes going on right now anyways, that a new baby hardly even seems noticeable! The hardest parts are not sleeping through the night, and spending half the day nursing her. I love nursing her, so it's not that I don't want to do it- it's just that you forget how much time it actually takes and any to-do list that I make hardly even gets one item checked off. And as for sleeping, it's probably about as good as it can get for a three 1/2 week old given they still can't go that long without eating. She still doesn't cry much- seems to really only be because of gas pains, which she gets with every feeding. I've noticed heightened fussiness in the "witching hour" and she's a little harder to console then, but still not so bad. I'm working to establish the eat-awake-sleep cycle as much as I can so that as she gets a little older, we can work towards sleeping through the night. Probably the biggest difference for me between the first and the third baby is that in my heart, I am loving every moment with her. I now understand how fast this stage goes by, how precious it is and how totally blessed I am to get to experience it again. While I do look forward to sleeping through the night again,  I love having her fall asleep on my chest, and feeling her snuggly warmth in the middle of the night. I love all her little noises and her tiny fingers and toes, her bald head and her soft, perfect skin. I'm less anxious for her to reach "the next stage" and enjoying the moments more.

Highlights from this past week include a visit from Uncle Stewart and him meeting Emmy for the first time, being showered with four dinners from four great friends this week and visits with all, Jack having a blast at "Pete the Cat" Camp week, and preparing for Davis's 6th birthday party at our house tomorrow. Um..... are we really have 14 kids over to our house TOMORROW? I better get to work- there's a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it! Lucky me though, I have Barron who is super dad and super husband, so it will all be ok :) 

3 weeks and 2 days- Emmy needs a headband

Uncle Stewart meets Emmy!! So sweet! 

Sweet Baby Emmy Frances

Family of Five

Back to the blog!! It's Saturday and Baby Emmy is 2 1/2 weeks old! We made it through a few weeks of big life changes and this hormonal mom has done more than her fair share of shedding some pretty big bittersweet tears. Rather than trying to sum everything up from the past, I'll jump right in to the now. Davis survived, or rather thrived, during his first week of kindergarten. My heart is so proud of him and his attitude, and his cheerfulness about school, riding the bus and making new friends. The morning wake-ups are EARLY, but he was more than ready to take the full days on with eagerness and excitement. Barron has been great about taking care of getting him ready for school so I can nurse Emmy and shower. He is out the door for the day at 7:20 a.m., and then Jack, Emmy and I are left to a very quiet, and sometimes lonely, house. I have been able to spend a lot more time with Jack, and am learning that he is a totally different kids without Davis around. They are so close as brothers, but Davis often dominates the situation and Jack is happy to let Davis run the show. With Davis at school, I can focus on everything about Jack-- he is sweet and focused, very easy going and whines less when on his own. He is a good listener and likes to just hang out- he doesn't need constant entertainment and enjoys even mundane tasks as long as he is getting to spend time with me. He's been a very big helper for me with Emmy, and he is especially sweet with her. I miss Davis terribly, but am grateful for the chance to get to know Jack in a different way. He will now forever be my "middle child" and I want to do what I can to not let him get lost is the shuffle!!  He melts my heart every day and has a way of connecting with me without speaking.
Emmy is just as sweet as she can be, and is definitely our most relaxed baby. She's doing well at night, all things considered for an almost three week old. She typically seems to know that night time is for sleeping, especially when we are able to master the Eat-Awake-Sleep routine during the day. She only cries when she's hungry or has tummy issues. But, once those things are taken care of, she's fine. She's easy to soothe and she's becoming more and more alert when she's awake. She's very aware of her brothers and her dad's voices- riveting her head to find any of them.
So, almost three weeks in, we are doing pretty well. We are so fortunate to have the support and love and hands on help from our family and friends, and the only way I am functioning as a half-way sane person right now is because of the help and the love we've received.... especially from my mom, my MIL and my husband. That and all the meals that have been generously brought to our home... I am not sure how I'm going to work cooking dinner back into the routine!
Off to shower and nurse Emmy (my 7 hour a day job). XOXO

First Day of Kindergarten- with Mrs. Campbell

August 4, 2014

Brothers and Best Friends

Big Helper Jack

Saturday Morning in bed- room for one more?

And then there were three....

House News

Barron and I have always assumed we would stay put in our house on Danube. When we were first married, we would spend evenings in the backyard talking by the firepit. We would look at the house and imagine what we would do to make it bigger and better for a family. Where would the porch go? Should we go up or out? Where should the swingset go? Over the years, we did minor interior upgrades to make the house feel better... particularly after it's bachelor pad days!! We held off on a lot of major upgrades or renovations because we just assumed we would be tearing the house down and starting over, so why throw away money if we were going to redo it all soon anyways? After a few things happened to the house this past fall, and the knowledge that we have some major repairs on the horizon (need new electrical throughout, etc.) we relized we needed to go ahead and make some major decisions. Could we afford to stay and tear the house down and build something NEW? Could we afford to stay and do a major renovation? Should we move OTP and get a bigger house for less money? How do we feel about private/public schools? Are we in love with our neighborhood? Do we want to be further from either set of parents than we already are? The questions go on and on and on and on!! We spent the past 4+ months having conversations and doing research with family, friends and experts. Once all the facts came in, we still had to do some soul searching because it seemed that we were in the fortunate position of having several options that were all good. It reminded me of choosing which college to attend... we needed to make a decision and not turn back! So, we are excited to have finally made the decision to stay on Danube and undergo a fairly major renovation!! We are currently working with an architect and a builder in the beginning stages of the design process. Needless to say, I think we are a bit overwhelmed with all the upcoming decisions that will need to be made. Fortunately, I am comforted by how well Barron and I work together as a team and the support system we have with our families. I know it's going to be tough and stessful (every home renovation article I read warns that if your marriage can survive a renovation, it can survive anything!), but I am beyond excited that we have the opportunity to turn our dream into a reality.

Jack's First Birthday

Letter to Jack on his first birthday.

Dear Jack,

I can hardly believe a whole year has passed since you came into this world. My memory of your arrival is still so clear in my mind and in some ways feels like it was only a few months ago. You have brought so much joy into our lives- the smiles and the laughter in our home have increased exponentially since your arrival. You have been such a sweet and happy baby and you just go with the flow. You are always watching the action, taking it all in and are more observant than I sometimes realize. You are a cuddly little boy and you love to snuggle, which makes a mom feel good! Even when a lot of the snuggle time occurs in the middle of the night.... speaking of, you seem to finally be getting the hang of sleeping through the night. Yay! You LOVE to play with your big brother and do everything you can to make him laugh. And, he loves to make you laugh too. You feed off of each other so much. And once Dad gets involved, well, you are all laughing so much you can hardly breathe. You have four teeth, you're walking, you're climbing anything you can... you love to crawl as fast as you can down the hall to Davis' room to play with his toys... laughing the whole way down the hall.

President's Day

President's Day isn't a "holiday" for us, and really is no different than any other Monday, except Davis didn't have MMO. As a SAHM, all days are really the same, yet when it's the weekend or a "holiday" it somehow feels different. Davis is a little too young and still in love with school to understand that a day off is supposed to be a good thing! So, we had a fun easy President's Day, just because. I'm including some good pics from the day.... Davis was in his jammies for most of the morning, until he became CAPTAIN NAKED (going along with his current passion for being a pirate). He finally got dressed for our outing to Trader Joe's. I convinced him this was necessary by asking him if he ever sees naked people when we go to stores. He definitely gave it some thought, and did eventually decide clothes were best. But, only if he could wear his pirate hat. That was fine with me and if was fun to watch him be a pirate at Trader Joe's! I told him he had to say things like "Ahoy Matey" and "Shiver Me Timbers" to people and he did. The TJ's staff was awesome and played along with him. Too funny. We had a great afternoon outside enjoying the warm sunshine. These boys love to laugh, and seem to need no reason to actually laugh except for the purpose of making each other laugh. Davis and I talk about how Jack is his best friend, and what does it mean to BE a best friend. He seems to understand what we're talking about, suprisingly enough. If they can be half as close as I am to my siblings, I would feel so blessed. It just makes me feel so good to think of the bond they are forming and that no matter what, they will always have each other.
This President's Day is one I will always remember- not because anything in particular or special happened... but mostly because nothing happened at all. It was just a great day spent with two of the three guys I love most in this world. A lot of love, a lot of laughing and an appreciation for the fact that I am in the midst of a wonderful and fleeting time of life.

Dad of the year made the bunkbeds into a pirate ship. Captain Davis has been sailing the seas for several days now, looking for lost treasure.

Jack is really into solid foods now and LOVES to eat. So far, he hasn't refused anything!! He has FOUR teeth now and that adorable baby toothless grin has turned into that funny toddler teeth grin!

Jack loves to swing almost as much as Davis! I was scrambling to get socks on the kids before we headed outside. Laundry needs to be done and you can see that the only two socks I could find don't match. Davis pointed this out to me immediately and called me a silly mom.

You can't tell, but these two are dying laughing at each other. I couldn't figure out what was making them laugh, but they had each other going to the point that I was laughing too.

How could you not LOVE this face??

Best friends.

Precious. Guess who he's smiling at...

This is what a 3 1/2 year old does when you say, "smile at the camera."

Single Mom

So many updates, so little time! I don't post when I have a moment because my photos aren't downloaded. And then, when I finally get pics downloaded, I forget to post! So, here's a post with no photos even though I've got tons of cute and/or funny pics on my phone. Some day I'll get it all together!
Update#1- Jack is gaining weight! Davis and I took him in at the end of last week for a check and he had gained almost a pound. The doctor had siad she wanted to see a whole pound, but it was close enough for her to feel like we could be confident it had been a supply issue. Based on her recommendations, Jack is still getting a combination of nursing and formula so that we can be sure he's getting the best benefits of both. As a side note, I love our pediatrician. We switched to a new doctor in our practice shortly after Jack was born and I'm so glad. Aunt B. and Uncle Patrick gave Davis a doctor's kit for Christmas, since he wants to be a Dinasour and a Doctor when he grows up. He loves playing with his kit, and we had told the pediatrician about it a few visits back. She gives Davis tongue depressors and latex gloves (what he asks for) for his kit at each visit. She even let him hold the stethescope and look through the thing that looks in the ear (when Jack had an ear infection). He is so well behaved at the doctor's office, and of all the errands we have to run, this is actually one of the easier ones! Anyways, it's super cute and I wonder if we have a doctor in the making.... we haven't started saving for medical school, so we might be in trouble. HA!

Update#2- I'm midway into week two of being a single mom. Barron is in Selma for work and we all miss him terribly!! I am so grateful that this is the only major travel he does every year. I certainly have friends whose husbands travel so much more, and I don't know how they handle it. The mornings and bedtime are clearly the hardest part of the day. When there are two of us here and we each take a child, it's totally manageable. But the 2 kids vs. 1 adult coverage can be exhausting! Plus, after juggling everything all day, it's nice to have dad come home to create new, positive energy and provide me with some rejuvenation to push through the evening! We'll make it til Friday, and then be thrilled to have Barron back. It's sort of like when people say, "It builds character" about something that's hard while you're doing it, but something you're grateful to have experienced....and would never go back and change!

Update#3- It's been a long enough stretch that I feel confident in saying we finally have Jack "sleeping through the night." He does have a very early wake up call of 5:30 a.m., and I can only hope that will change as time goes on. At this point, I'm beyond grateful to get 6 hours of (mostly) uninterrupted sleep. It's been over 10 months since I've been able to say that. Lack of sleep has definitely had a negative impact on my patience level and energy level, and I can slowly feel both starting to be restored. I can only assume that his weight gain, increase in table food intake as well as supplementing with formula have allowed him to have a full tummy all night. Whatever it is, I'm thrilled.

Update#4- In my last post, I forgot to include the news that Jack's first teeth finally came through! (You don't forget that when it's the first child.) He's got these two bottom teeth sticking out and it's pretty cute. The top two teeth are about to break through as well. He's eating tons of table food in addition to the standard baby food. He's a great eater and has pretty much eaten anything he's been offered. He is crawling all over the house now, and is a very confident "cruiser." I think he thinks he can walk by himself, but he can't. He has just started to be able to get himself into standing position without pulling up on an object... not sure if that makes sense, but I recognize that move from Davis when he was getting ready to walk. Jack has also just started to get upset if something is taken away from him... He still has the best smile in the whole world and I can not get enough of it!!

Update#5- We've been in a bit of a challenging stage with Davis lately. I think it's largely because he's 3 1/2 and he's really good at it. I have my own other theories on which I won't expand on at the moment. All this to say, he surprises me EVERY DAY with some of the stuff he comes up with. We can be in a very frustrating moment, and the excuse he creates out of thin air for why he can't do something is so genius or thoughtfully hilarious, I have to smile. Even though smiling on the outside is the WORST thing you can do when you're in a word battle with a 3 year old and you're trying to make a point. So yes, we have our moments that I would not want to be caught on tape. But when they are over, he will be the sweetest most wonderful smiling child and my heart is constantly melting over him. When he comes and sits in my lap and says, " Mom, I love you" for no reason at all... I'm totally head over heels.