It's our 9 to 5

Our pool trips are like me realizing a life long dream. I remember spending allll day, every day at the pool during my summers as a kid. I remember bringing my kid national geographic magazines and summer reading books to keep me occupied while I soaked up the sun for hours on end. And I remember getting raw sores on the balls of my toes from gripping the rough floor of the pool all day long. 

I also remember moms being there with their young kids and thinking about how awesome they had it. Now, I'm that mom. And it is still awesome. Even more so than I'd anticipated. 

Last night I made sandwiches and cut up watermelon. I packed all of the granola bar/crackers/goldfish type food in a bag and went ahead and set out the cooler bag that I would be putting my tupperwares of watermelon, ice packs, and bottle of milk in. I already had the snap n go stroller in the back of my car (assembled, because it actually fits that way!) with our bag of pool toys, towels, and food bag in the basket.  I had the blender out and ready for my morning smoothie and I even had the oats poured in a bowl so I could just add water and microwave to make the kids' breakfast. I don't think I've ever been more prepared for anything in my life. ; )  It made this morning a breeze... Which came in handy since I didn't get out of bed til 8:45 and I had to nurse Elizabeth before we left so that I could be in the pool with Brady during the swim lesson. 

We got there right at 9:30 for the swim lesson and it went better than yesterday having me participate with the kids. Also, I felt like it was more worth it time wise because I was able to do things with Brady while the instructor did things with Abigail. And I encouraged my kids to do stuff like blow bubbles and whatever when the instructor was helping the other girl in their class. Elizabeth hung out just fine in her car seat/stroller in the shade. A million times a day I think to myself "hallelujah this easy kid thing is amazing!" And I don't anticipate that changing anytime soon. I am so so grateful she is not difficult like Brady was. I'm forever humbled by my experience with that boy as a newborn.  Anyways, swim class was good. They practiced blowing bubbles out of their mouth and nose and doing a starfish float on their back. And blowing out while being dunked under water. 

Class ended at ten and right after, Tracy arrived with her two kids and then 30 minutes later, Kerra arrived with her four girls, so it was a pretty instant party. We played for a few hours until they went home. And maybe 10 minutes after they'd left, Jennie and summer showed up so it couldn't have been more perfect. I love talking to Jennie. I knew her in previous summers but this is the first time we've actually gotten to know each other. Since I packed so much food, we just stayed all day. 

Like literally allll day. Elizabeth slept for several hours, ate when she woke up, fountain puked the whole thing immediately after. It was awesome to be outside when that happened so it could just puddle on the ground and be rinsed off later with a water squirter. Also, I changed her onesie since hers was soaked and when she was in just a diaper, I was able to wash off her body easily with the water fountain. Perfect that the mechanism to turn it on could be easily held with my hip. It really was as optimal as possible. So then I got her in a new onesie and out her in her car seat babe hung out for at least 45 minutes or so before drifting off. I love that she's so content to just sit there and look around and that she just dozed off whenever she feels like it. Very self sufficient of her for a newborn.  

We got home around 5:15 or so. And that was after dragging my kids out of there. I would have been happy staying even later except that I didn't want to put sunscreen on us all again... I feel like that's all we do sometimes. But of course when we pulled in the driveway, Abigail saw lucy and kalia and Presley playing with the slip n slide. So Abigail and brady went over there and did that for a few minutes before they turned it off and played sidewalk chalk for a long time. Honey got home soon after we did so we just hung out on the driveway in our lawn chairs. 

Brady lives to check on Elizabeth which involves throwing open the blanket, which makes her squirm with the bright light. So then he either declares that she's awake and starts poking and playing with her or he hears her grunts and squeaks that she does and declares her fussy and covers her back up. Ha. 

Abigail picked us all flowers when she came back home so she walked in the door and excitedly told us that she had flowers for us all. One for daddy, Elizabeth, Brady, and me. And of course she picked one for herself. It was already cute that she made sure to pick one for everyone but even cuter when she handed them out to us all and cuter still when I walked into the guest room and saw that Elizabeth ha had her flower delivered to her already. She was as into it as a one month old could be. Also, she seems to be getting longer. 

Abigail ate while I held Brady nor did his fair share of crying because he didn't want his food and then his lips hurt and then he wanted Abigail and then needed me to hold him and on and on. Eventually I held him on my lap and fed him every bite of his dinner. The boy is a wuss when it comes to teething and these two year molars are hard on him (I will say though that they look horribly painful, especially with how far they're coming up) and I... I'm soaking it up. I'm cottling him horribly and hopefully not spoiling him for life. Ha. The downside is that he only wants me and not chris. So I'm the only one that can help him get dressed or brush his teeth or feed him dinner or get him a drink or put him to bed without him having major issues about it. I mean, chris still did some of that stuff for him tonight but it almost sent Brady into more tears. I held the boy after I fed Elizabeth, during his whole dinner, the whole time honey read books for bedtime... And I put him to bed. And when he cries shortly after and only wanted me, he sat with chris okay while he waited for me to finish swaddling Elizabeth and then requested that I hold him more. I rocked him to sleep in his glider and then sang him more songs when I transferred him to his crib. He's like a sick cuddly kid except better because I don't have to worry about him being contagious. Honey put Elizabeth to bed and once again... I love that she hangs out just fine and then drifts her little self off to sleep. It never gets old for me. 

Emmy called right after I got out of Brady's room and we talked for 20 minutes until I had to get in the shower. I love night time showers during the summer. They're really hitting the spot for me lately. A lot of things are really hitting the spot for me lately. 

In case you were wondering... I'm still soooo grateful to be feeling happy. Every day it's just exciting for me. I love that I love my kids again and I wake up excited for our day together. Thank goodness because we've all been waking up before 8:30 most mornings which is pretty early for us. But... bring it on, because I love my days again. ; ) 

Because Mondays are good

One thing I love about tracking stuff on my baby app (ibabylog in case you were wondering) is because it helps me easily look for patterns of things. In the beginning I was wondering how well I was doing weaning myself from pain meds and how often/how much I was having to pump. Lately, I've been looking through to check for patterns of Elizabeth's sleep. One thing I thought I noticed (and confirmed through the app) is that Elizabeth typically wakes up around 5:30. I figured this out last night around 11pm or so when I was writing her one month post. So I was humored when I woke up this morning at...

But I think I didn't burp her well enough or something because instead of waking up at her usual 8 (give or take), she woke up again an hour later. Which made me want to give up on sleeping and browse fb. I think the Internet is the reason we are all so wanting of so many things. Before the Internet I would have nurses my baby at 6:45 am and been totally content with my life. But not now. Now I can use my iPhone to discover that my life is nothing unless I can procure a "she shed" to call my own. Because it's not enough to hang out in bed... I need a space (not just a room, but a tiny structure) of my own. And it needs to look amazing. While I realize the ridiculousness of a "she shed," it didn't stop me from picking my favorite from the list of pictures and taking a screen shot of it. I think it was my favorite because it had tons of trees, windows, and a bed. All of my favorite things. 

Today was the first day of swim lessons (crap! I'm remembering now that I never called my mom back dangit. I suck.) and it went about like I thought it would. Abigail was scared but completely compliant. Brady cried. Tomorrow we're going to see if it goes better with me in the water with Brady (per the instructor's suggestion). I think Brady just freaks out with a stranger holding him more than being in the water. Anyways, the lesson was from 9:39-10 so we just stayed at the pool because it opens at 10. Lucky for us, Sarah and her kids showed up and then Kristen and Sharon and their kids. And I was sad when they all left but then Jodi and Elle came like five minutes later. And then summer and her mom Jennie. We eventually left close to three because we ran out of food and were hungry, but it was perfect having a constant stream of our friends. Tomorrow we'll stay (but I'm packing way more food) and my friend Kerra will be coming and bringing her girls. Today, the kids got burned (mostly on their upper half but especially cheeks) and honey told me I need to apply sunscreen to them every ten minutes when we go tomorrow. Whoops. It's seriously a full time job keeping these fair skinned kids cancer free. It was the first time in several pool visits that I let Abigail wear a swimsuit without a rash guard and I let Brady wear his short sleeve rash guard instead of the long sleeve one. Guess we won't be doing that again for a while. 

Half the fun for Abigail and Brady was playing out of the pool with Sarah's kids. It was cute. 

Elizabeth just hanging out on Sarah's lap. 

The best was when Elizabeth got fussy and started crying (which was weird because she typically only cries for a reason) and Sarah was all "I love being able to pass off a crying baby" (Sarah doesn't love the baby stage of kids) and I was all "I love that when you hand my kids to me, she stops crying and then immediately falls asleep on my lap!"  I mean, I held her on my legs just the same as Sarah was (which is typically how I hold her) and somehow, she just calmed right down like she knew I was her mom. I loved it. 

Brady. Because he's so funny and cute to watch. 

Below his knees... The only part of him getting tan this summer. It's like he stepped into a puddle of mud. ; ) 

Brady is getting bossier these days. It's to be expected since he spends so much time with Abigail and myself but whatever. ; ) He frequently gets upset when he doesn't fit next to me in the pool chairs or this chair at home. If I'm holding Elizabeth then he wants to be right there... And it's not okay if he doesn't fit so we try to make it work. 

I cracked myself up when I managed to photobomb (with elizabeth) Brady's selfie. 

I can't express enough how much he loves taking pictures and getting his picture taken. Especially when Elizabeth is involved. 

He thought it was so cool when he reviewed this picture to find out that honey had made his way in the back of it. Ha. 

Abigail's hair is getting so long (well, y'know... It's taken a while) and I know that because I was able to just on a whim braid her hair when I was playing with it and it didn't take a concentrated effort to pull it all back or make it stay twisted right. She always has me take pictures of her hair so she can see what it looks like. I love it. 

After the kids were in bed, I made a smoothie (my third one of the day... It's all I want) and watched some bachelorette with my honey. We forwarded through most of it but holds cow, is this the most boring season ever?! Or does it just feel like that because I've only watched like 20 minutes all season so I've missed the important parts that would make these conversations and interactions even remotely interesting? 

But let's talk about food for just a second. I've never been one to be obsessed with food (only at small and occasional points in my life) but right now is kind of a new low. I seriously only want smoothies.  And granola bars. I like those too. But I don't even crave cereal or eggs anymore (even though they're good... I just don't want them every day like I used to). Want to hear what we ate today? The kids had oatmeal and chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie for breakfast (I had just smoothie), we all had granola bars at the pool around noon or so, when we got home around 3, the kids had the rest of their oatmeal and a strawberry smoothie (I had strawberry smoothie), and for dinner, we all had life cereal. I followed my cereal up with some chocolate cake and had another chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie after the kids were in bed. Recap: the kids had oatmeal, smoothies, granola bars, and cereal.  I had three smoothies, a granola bar, chocolate cake, and life cereal. It's amazing to me how satisfied I am not cooking and how much happier my kids and husband are when I don't cook. I think as far as summer goes, I'm gonna plan to just make one or two dinners per week. The rest can be smoothies and cereal and sandwiches. 

Also, I'm counting down the days til Atlanta and the beach! Ahhhh!!!! I can't wait! 

One month old

At one month, 

Elizabeth is an awesome napper and sleeps for hours on end during the day... Like 3-4. At night, her longest stretch is always first. At least 4.5 hours, but her best yet has been 8 hours and 15 minutes. The next stretch is normally 3.5 hours and then 2.5 hours, getting up for the day around 8. She eats quickly during the night and is asleep within 8-10 minutes. We get it done and don't mess around. She falls asleep on her own without crying. Unless I can't bear to put her down because she's so precious... Then she drifts off in my arms or lap. ; ) But mostly she just puts herself to sleep in her Moses basket. I double swaddle her with the miracle blanket and a velcro swaddle blanket. 

Elizabeth is a happy, chill baby but doesn't like the hiccups or being gassy (who does?!) and will fuss and cry out during feeding sometimes because of that. But once it's resolved, she's content to hang out in her bouncer or laying in a blanket or something without being held. 

Elizabeth reminds me so much of Abigail. She looks like Abigail and has expressions like Abigail. She also has similarities to Abigail like blowouts when she poops (although Elizabeth only poops once every three days for the most part), eating super fast (normally less than five minutes per side), refusing to suck when she's not hungry, not needing a binky, taking super long naps and rarely accepting a feeding less than four hours after the last. 

She's basic and easy and blissfully amazing. People have asked a lot about how the transition to three kids is going. I tell them that I think the transitions depend more on the temperament of the newborn than how many kids you have. Because I've only struggled when Brady was my newborn. Abigail and Elizabeth have made me feel like a super mom even though I know I can't take any credit... It's just that I have an easy baby. It doesn't stop people from commenting though about how fast I've gotten back into things like going to church and taking the kids to the pool by myself. It's just because Elizabeth is so flexible with it and so predictable so far.

Who knows how long this will all last so I'm milking it for all its worth. I'm loving the newborn stage more this time around than with the previous two. Definitely more than I did with Brady (because holy cow that was horrific) but also more than I did with Abigail and I'm not sure why. Maybe because I have older kids and I appreciate even more now how fleeing this stage really is? Either way, I'm taking more time this time around to just hold my baby when I want to and not feel like I have to worry as much about setting a sleep schedule or installing proper sleep habits or whatever. 

I'm just loving it. All of it. This little girl is straight from heaven. I can't believe it's been a month. Because it feels like she was just born yesterday but because it also feels like she's been a part of our family forever. Our three kids right now feel so perfect like this was always how it was supposed to be. Abigail and brady are so obsessed with Elizabeth and it even feels like their friendships has grown and strengthened since Elizabeth was born. I'm so excited to see these three develop and it makes me so excited to add even more to our little bunch. 

I'm so grateful I get to be a mother to this precious little girl. One month down, eternity to go. 

Henry's birthday party Sunday

Today was another great day. Even better than normal Sundays because we didn't have as much down time for me to struggle with.

My day started off alright. I woke up to feed Elizabeth and eventually got out of bed to get crying Brady. I told Abigail and Brady to go downstairs and have daddy get them some breakfast but when they came back up, I remembered that it was the fourth Sunday and Christopher was gone at ward counsel. Dangit. Ha. So I made us all smoothies. I'm loving smoothies lately. And since I've been drinking them again (instead of eating mass amounts of rolls and butter), I've felt better and even lost a few lbs. So that was our first breakfast. 

My morning was brightened when I walked into the kitchen and saw the beautiful flowers Abigail picked for me yesterday. I seriously love them. 

Abigail loved hanging out with Elizabeth in her bouncer after breakfast and Elizabeth seemed to be enjoying it too, so I left all the kids in the kitchen and went to take a shower. I got in the shower and literally thought to myself "this is the best shower ever" because holy cow, the water was the perfect temperature or something. It felt incredible. 

And all the kids were still happy when I got out which was very happy for me. 

You know you're a tiny little lady when your newborn bloomers swamp your petite bummy bum (as Brady would say).  

Church was great. The kids did pretty well during sacrament meeting, Brady went to nursery no problem, Abigail actually walked to primary by herself... well with her friend Sophie... they held hands, and Elizabeth didn't wake up til the last twenty minutes (which makes three weeks in a row I think) which was perfect timing so I nursed her and picked up the kids and met up with honey before all walking to the car together. 

We ran home after church to change clothes (except Elizabeth who we left in her car seat in the car) and head to Henry's birthday party because he's turning two tomorrow. Henry belongs to honey's Stanford friend, will, who lives about 40 minutes from us. It was a cute party (Snow White themed because it's Henry's favorite) and had Apple slices on mini skewers to dip in yogurt dip or caramel and then roll in toppings like graham cracker crumbs, mini chocolate chips, marshmallows, crushed pretzels, and nuts. It was an awesome idea and so delicious. They also had bread cut outs from an apple cookie cutter so could do little mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your kids. All the food was so cute and delicious. And they even had little craft tables and coloring tables set up and a water table outside. It was mostly a party for adults (all the kids were super young) and low key, but definitely entertaining for our kids which I'd been a little worried about. Elizabeth slept until the end of that so I got her out and then fed her and hung out a little more and put her back in her car seat. By the time honey got her car seat to leave, she'd already out herself back to sleep. 

On the way home, honey and I decided to out the kids straight to bed. It didn't happen. We lingered outside a bit and Abigail picked three flowers. Why?  Why pick every flower that has bloomed?!  So I stopped her at three and told her to run and give them to Lucy, Presley, and Kalia, who were all out playing. Brady promptly picked the remaining two flowers on tha plant. Ha. Seriously?!  When I asked him to leave some on next time he tried to reattach the ones he'd picked. He's precious. 

Elizabeth was awake by the time we got home so I took her up to feed her. I took off the top shirt I was wearing to more easily feed Elizabeth. So naturally Brady needed to try it on while Elizabeth ate. 

When I came downstairs, I found Abigail coloring sidewalk chalk with lucy and honey chillin in a camp chair on our driveway. So much about our plan. So honey and I held Elizabeth and Brady in our camp chairs while we watched a storm in the distance. It was great. Then we headed in for bedtime. I'm obsessed with Brady's legs these days. Turns out the boy tabs pretty nicely which gives him the cutest legs ever. Will even commented on his tan lines tonight at the party when he saw them because Brady was wearing shorts and you can see how his legs get whiter. Also, I know he's not a pudgy kid by any means, but he's got more toddlers softness than Abigail ever did and that combined with the tan. Oh how it makes my heart potter patter. As do these little sleep shorts of his. Me rn with the random lightening McQueen shirt he wanted to wear to bed tonight. 

Elizabeth. Because I love her. Baby acne and all. 

We love taking pictures. 

But mostly Brady. Allllll day long photography. 

It's been a good day. 

Also, this was me last night. 

The idiot that stays awake until 12:30... Over four hours after her baby has fallen asleep. I'm determined not to do that again tonight (even though it's already been an hour and a half) but it's hard because I can't take my beloved unisom while nursing. Wish me luck... I'd probably get decent sleep if I could just go to bed at a normal hour. I'm sure I'll figure this out eventually, right?

Tomorrow morning is the first swim lesson for Abigail and Brady. Cross your fingers that it goes well!

Saturday is a special day

Last night I had great plans of our family going to the pool today... But I had crazy dreams again... For the third night in a row. And these crazy dreams make me feel like I'm on drugs and never actually went to sleep. So I woke up completely exhausted and scrapped that plan. I took the kids to the pool on Thursday when I was super exhausted and holy cow I couldn't keep my eyes open even after we'd been there for hours. So today we stayed home and I did cleaning and laundry and general nothingness except quite a bit of holding Elizabeth which makes my heart burst. And Brady got a solid nap which was necessary because of his molars coming in. So it turned out to be the right decision even though it wasn't as fun of a day as what it could have been. But here's some pictures. 

Because every day starts with Brady loving on Elizabeth. 

And taking pictures with my phone. He actually included Elizabeth, Abigail, and myself in this one. How impressive. 

And of course he ditched his clothes. This time for a dress. 

And then for his birthday suit. The boy wishes he could go potty so badly. I told him I'll teach him after we get back from Georgia if he still wants to learn. But for the moment, I told him that downing a sippy of juice and then sitting on this potty while watching strawberry shortcake might help. So he tried that. But then he got bored with sitting there and peed in his diaper within ten minutes or so. ; ) 

He wears hats. Typically ones that are completely weather inappropriate. 

I'm realizing this looks like the Brady show... Whoops. 

He took some pictures of me. Because he takes pictures alllll day long. 

And tried on more hats. 

Abigail and Presley were playing outside when Abigail came in to give me this bouquet she picked for me. As we came downstairs to find a vase for them, I heard her telling Presley, "hey pres, I'm just in here with my mom getting a case. My dad told me not to pick them because we wouldn't have anymore but I showed them to my mom and she was really happy!"  HA. I have an unusually good long term memory and vividly remember the day at I was at a friend's house and we picked a bunch of daffodils for her mom... Her mom was not at all pleased. I'm not a super nice mom, but I want my kid to know that I appreciate her sweet gestures more than the landscaping in my yard. Plus, all the flowers she picked were really pretty. 

I keep telling myself that tomorrow I'll be more structured about Elizabeth's naps but then I just want to hold her. And tomorrow's Sunday so that won't have structure and then Monday through Thursday the kids have swim lessons in the morning so we'll probably be at the pool every day. And eventually we'll be in Atlanta and North Carolina and the farm and Atlanta and back to Colorado. Sorry Elizabeth... Better luck in August maybe? 

When Brady woke up screaming (naturally... Because teeth) then we sent Presley home and all packed up for the library. Between yesterday and today, we returned every book except for three. And most of the CDs too. But today we checked out exactly 50 more items. Mostly books but about five CDs and five movies too. I'm so excited for all the new stuff we have to enjoy. 

And because honey wanted frozen yogurt, we tried out orange leaf for the first time. Gotcha is still my favorite because they have the best flavors and biggest/best selection of toppings, but we have a buy one get one free for 4 ounces at this place with our high school discount cards so that was excuse enough to explore this place. It was a fun environment. More kid friendly than gotcha or swirls, but I don't like that you can't get your own samples... You have to ask the worker to get the samples you want which is annoying... Especially when you're getting sample for yourself and your kids. And the toppings were kind of disappointing... And annoyingly, not labeled so I kept having to ask that same worker what all the toppings were (I try to stay away from peanut butter stuff and mint stuff because it makes your whole thing all taste the same). Also, the spoons aren't worth keeping. So basically, the best part was the seating setup, toy table, and tv running Americas funniest videos. And our discount. Ha. 

Abigail and Presley went to town with their creative play. I survived by locking myself in the guest room with Elizabeth for the three hours they were playing but when we were getting home from the library and frozen yogurt I started to panic. I hate that I care but holy cow I can't handle the mess. I'm open to suggestions and advice about this. From training kids I clean up or ways for me to learn to let it go or organizational stuff or methods to not create a huge mess or whatever you've got... I need help (and therapy). 

Our new CDs are a hit. The kids still live dancing and twirling. 

And of course when we heard Elizabeth wake up...

Too bad I missed the shot of them both with their heads completely inside of the car seat at the same time. 

Other notables from today...

The kids watched strawberry shortcake rockaberry roll or whatever it's called. We actually own that one (when we got a huge stack of hand me down DVDs from two friends in the ward) and I just found out today (although I've had my suspicions) that it's Abigail's very favorite show to watch. She likes all the songs. 

I heated up a three ounce bottle this morning to give Elizabeth when she woke up. I've been trying to give her a bottle about every five days. Not an entire feeding, but at least 3-4 ounces so she gets used to taking a bottle. Last night I realized that it had already been eight days so I decided to do it first thing after waking up. Well, the kid wouldn't take it. It was maybe half an ounce and probably lost of that was what had dropped into her mouth and then dribbled down her cheek. I kept it out and tried again next feeding and she chugged the remaining 2.5 ounces with no problem at all. I'm not sure what her deal is, but she's so hot and miss with bottles so far. Sometimes needs it hit, sometimes can take it room temp. Sometimes puts up a fight, sometimes chugs it right away. Hopefully she'll get better over time with practice. 

Speaking of hopefully... Hopefully she'll also learn to take a binky. My efforts so far have been very unsuccessful. She honestly doesn't need it at all to soothe or fall asleep, but I would like that option for calming her (or quieting her once she's at that noisy stage in a few months)and I really really would like that option for flying. We fly enough that I need to be able to get her to suck on command without taking a feeding. Even with her feeding during takeoff or landing, it's risky because she eats so fast (like 4 minutes per side maybe) and refuses to suck after she's decided she's full. It's giving me flashbacks of my first flight with Abigail and the guy that yelled "can someone shut that baby up?!" from three rows back. That was the moment I decided I should give my kid a binky. So I guess I have to give that guy some thanks because I've loved having Abigail and Brady take binkies.  I'm pretty determined this time around but Elizabeth literally gags and chokes on them when she does anything more than bite it or push it out with her tongue. But I cling to hope with those few times that she's sucked it for ten seconds straight without gagging. ; ) 

Abigail told me tonight that her favorite part of church is the small class after primary (Sunday school) because they get to color. 

My friend amber (the mom of a girl that used to be in my daycare class way back in the day) posted on fb yesterday about how awesome her new neighbors are and how they helped her move into her house since her husband has a knee injury right now and couldn't move any boxes. I thought it was a happy story and clicked "like" because I always love when good people are helping good people. A few hours later I got a fb message from amber. 

I wrote her back and she responded again. It just made me happy.