Where I've Been

Just popping in to say hi.  These 3 kids are keeping me crazy busy, day and night.  And Little Miss Claire?

Well she turned 5 months old (how?!).  She also will only take 30 minute naps, which means I get very little accomplished every day.  I thought it was just a phase but so far, it's been that way the past couple of months no matter WHAT I try.  I even dusted off my old copy of "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" to try some of the recommendations there (they always worked before!) and NO DICE.  This girl ain't havin' it.  

And?  She wakes up twice a night to feed.  Every. Single. Night.  Prior to going on a little getaway with the hubs to California last month, I had her sleeping through the night.  But ever since we got back, we party twice a night.  

She's not into solids, I've tried a few times with the rice cereal (I guess I'd gag on that too, ugh!) so I'm going to try with sweet potatoes this week.  She's still nursing like a champ, but does get a bottle of formula from time to time.  

She's super happy, smiley and pretty darn laid back.  I guess you have to be with her big bro and sis around.  She also drools SO MUCH that I've had to bib her most of the time.  She's cooing and babbling and screeching and squeaking.  These past few weeks she's really found her voice!

I'm guessing she weighs around 18-19 pounds right now, so clearly, she's not suffering from malnutrition, lol.  Her chunky roll thighs are about the cutest, squishiest things I've ever seen!  I know I should just sleep train her again (aka, cry it out) but I just can't bring myself to do it right now.  It's so easy to stumble up to her room, nurse her, and lay her back down with a full(er) belly.  And then complain about how sleep deprived I am, haha.  Plus I really do love that quiet, dark time with just me and her snuggling, nobody interrupting.

So that's about it.  Not much going on in the land of diapers, feedings, and trying to keep the house in a reasonable state of chaos.  Actually, there IS a lot going, but nothing interesting!  Blowouts, toddler fights, tantrums, the neverending laundry and snacking....ahhh, this is paradise folks.

I hope to pop back in again soon and share our Easter and some changes headed our way!

Morgan is 4!

I know every parent thinks this, but I am still in disbelief that my baby girl is FOUR years old!

The weather held off for her party on Friday night and our mountainous driveway was decent enough for people to drive on, so we partied!

 The party was Sophia-themed.  We kept it relatively small this year, just family and our neighbors across the road.  My parties get simpler the more kids I throw into the mix.  We made tomato red pepper soup and broccoli cheddar soup, along with grilled cheese on sourdough bread. I also made hot cinnamon toasted almonds and of course there were Sophia cookies and cake and other snackies.  And drinks ;-)  I'm still recovering from eating way too much, ugh!

Joey's face, haha!!

Little Brother had a HARD week.  I determined it was because the girls were getting all the attention (Morgan's party! Morgan's birthday! Morgan's cake! Marsha Marsha Marsha lol)  And the baby of course, always gets all the attention, so he was battling some big left out feelings I think...

Before she blew out her candle, she made a wish for everyone to be nice and be friends, lol:

 And then the weather reverted back to its nasty self come Saturday:

 So they built snowmen while I stayed inside with the little lady:

 And when you play out in the snow, hot cocoa is a must afterward:

 The parents of a FOUR year old!

 My Dad came to town to visit for the weekend and celebrate with us which was so special.  I just love this picture of him and Mo:

 Grandpa Don with all the kids...so hard to get anyone to cooperate!

It was a great weekend and our girl was spoiled!! (Yay, more toys, lol!)  So thankful for this family of mine.

I Must Confess...

I'm copying Amy over at Mrs. Mommy (go visit her and send her some love and kind words as she enters the final weeks of pregnancy!), with this whole confessions thing.  I can't ever seem to find time to blog, let alone make it interesting and pick it up where I left off, so this random confessional sounded like a good idea.

I confess:

• I am so over winter.  

Sorry about the F*Bomb... but this cracks me up every time.

• This week canceled all of life and we are housebound.  I was supposed to get my kitchen reno at least started.  I can live without that for now (it's been held up by one thing or another for so long at this point), but more importantly, we are supposed to have a bday party for Morgan on Friday night.  Speaking of...

• I don't think that party is happening.  And my Dad is flying in for it.  And nobody will be able to make it up our driveway even if Snowpocalypse 2015 does cease fire for a minute.  I'm going to have one very sad little 4 year old :(
• And even if the party were happening?  I have NOTHING prepared for it.  Unless you count cookies & cake.  That stuff was ordered weeks ago.  Priorities!
• Morgan's turning 4 and I can't even believe it.  Where did my baby go?

• We spend our days letting the kids change outfits 50,000 times and wear whatever they want.  Pink hats and all.

I miss my newborn.  Claire is a chunky, squirmy honeybadger.  And she catnaps for 30 minutes at a time.  JUUUUUST enough time to do...well...nothing.  Go to the bathroom?  Switch the laundry?  Adhere to dictator demands x 2? Clean up a mess?  Scrub a dish?  Grab a fistful of food?

This baby WILL. NOT. NAP. longer than 30 minutes. Ever.

• I tried out eyelash extensions and kinda hated them. I loved not applying & removing mascara, but hated the way they felt - crunchy, hard, and you cannot rub your eyes.  They irritated my eyes and were a little painful.  Maybe I just have super sensitive eyes?  They got all wonky after a few days and then started falling out so I had to get them removed.  NOT FUN.  Now I see why people get addicted and just get them filled instead of removed. I just want to roll out of bed with a full face on, is that so wrong?  But for the cost, I think I will stick with my $6 tube of mascara!

BEFORE                                       AFTER

• I haven't seen the outside of my house since Sunday.  Unless you count the 1/4 mile trek down to the mailbox late last night because I was desperate for fresh air.
• I'm eating way too much.  I blame breastfeeding...but really?  It's winter's fault.

There, just a few things off my chest.  Now I can go back to child monitoring, wishing winter away, and looking at the clock to see if it's too early to start drinking wine.  Carry on.

#Fleek

Has it really been a month since I last blogged?  Yes, yes it has.  SOOO not on #fleek.  In case you're wondering what fleek is, ask your toddler.  Mine keeps me updated on all the latest cool-kid terminology.  I had to urban dictionary that shizz.  Turns out?  I'm officially old, lame and out of the loop.

Anyway, Claire is growing up way too fast.  My sweet little newborn is now a roly-poly infant.  She's 3 months old already(!!!) and sweet as can be.  Morgan & Joey are a handful of naughtiness. Lordy they are something!  Our days are so long...currently we are awake from about 5am - 11pm and that leaves me pretty wiped out.  Also?  #gohomewinteryouredrunk  Seriously. Over. Winter.  I need to get these kids outside to burn off some energy!

She's really been smiling SO much!  She responds to our voices and is even trying to "talk" back to us.

 I'm not sure what she weighs, but she is in 6 month clothing already.  Glad to know all that breastfeeding is doing some good.  Girlfriend loves to eat!

This darling boy....where do I begin with him....he has the sweetest heart.  And he's all boy ;)  That is meant to be understood as he is TWO hands full.  He is up by 6am every morning now (which is so much earlier than he used to wake up, what the????) He often will go into Morgan's room and try to wake her up, but Miss Princess likes to sleep in.  If she doesn't wake up to play with him, he comes to our bedroom and will stand in the door way whispering "Mommy....I'm awake.... Mommy!"  He gets in trouble for climbing up in the shelves in Morgan's closet, waking everyone in the house at ungodly hours, and throwing food, among other things.  Also...he does not stop talking.  Ever.  We have to remind him to take a breath every once in a while ;)

Then there's Morgan.  About to turn 4.  Or 15.  She has some serious toddler OCD and suddenly a steel trap memory.  She keeps us on our toes for sure.  She can be so sweet to Joey, but has a bit of a mean streak about her too.  She gets in trouble for slicing up his face with her finger nails and her potty drama.  Also, at nap time and bed time, she always has to make sure her room is picked up and everything is lined up just perfectly before she can get into bed.  Drives me bonkers!

 She changes her outfit approximately 4 times each day.  She loves school, but has recently gotten in trouble for not listening.  Her teacher told me last week she almost called me to come get her because she was really out of hand.  WHO gets kicked out of Catholic Preschool?!?!  Apparently my kid, that's who.

 We hosted my husband's cousin's family over for dinner one night.  Their sweet baby Anabel is one month older than Claire.  Claire is such a haus! lol!

Sweet cousins!

Tonight, we finally moved Claire to her own bedroom.  It's not finished yet, but all the essentials are there (crib, dressers, clothes, dipes, wipes).  Mama & Daddy needed their bedroom/tv/computer back!  It's funny, with the first two kids, I had them in their own rooms by about 6 weeks if I remember correctly.  This time I had THEE HARDEST time evicting her.  Maybe it's because I know she's our last baby -- and that deserves its own blog post because I've really had a hard time accepting that.  Or maybe it's because I sleep better this time around, like I'm trained to sleep hard enough through all their little noises and squeaks, but I sleep light enough that I can get up for night time feedings.  All I know is, she's up in her own room tonight and I feel like a wild teenager.  Or a mom who *MIGHT* just stay up til midnight, woo hoo!

I've been totally preoccupied with finally making some changes to our home that we wanted to make when we moved in a year ago.  Hard to believe we've been here a year already!  Lots of things in the works that I hope to document on the old blog because who doesn't love a good "before" and "after"?  I'm keeping busy with calls and emails and texts and visits with contractors and I kinda love it.

Here's a little sneak peek at what's going down in my kitchen in the next two weeks.  New granite counter tops, a new granite composite sink, same existing cabinets, new cabinet hardware, and I still have to pick out back splash tile.  I'm more excited than a normal adult female should be about this project!!

I also can't stop thinking about this sheep's milk cheese I found recently:  It is melt-in-your-mouth heaven.  Go find it imeed.  It pairs well with my obsession wine, a New Zealand Sauv Blanc called Nobilu.

I found my way back to my Pilates studio, have been doing some cardio in the basement and am working on my nutrition.  I've been cooking a lot more and am loving experimenting with new healthy recipes.  If I ever get my act back together, I'll share some of those here on the blog.

Overall, life is wonderful, if not exhausting!  I'm trying to make this year one where I focus on health and happiness for all of us.