still here!

We're still here---insanely busy but doing well. I just dropped Ava & a friend off for Kid's Night Out at their gymnastics studio. It goes from 6-9 pm and just drives home the fact that my daughter has more of a social life than me. And, also, we've somehow jumped ahead 10 years. 

Some happenings:

• I've been able to volunteer in the kiddos' classrooms which has been so fun. I love seeing them in their environments and all their hard work. Cole had the "Mystery Box" this week. {they place an object in the box & provide clues to see if anyone can guess what it is}. He has been SO excited and I was so thrilled I got to see him present to his class. 

• Ava got her report card and has done so well. She knows all her pre-primer & primer sight words and is now working through her first grade words. She's also reading a full grade level ahead and is loving her writing club. Now she reads a paragraph and decides if it has a good summery or could do better. She pretty much loves everything about school except doing math---she does really well but she'd much rather read & write than work on math. {not that I really blame her...}

• We've had very few spring-like days. So. over. winter. But we were at least able to enjoy the nice days outside for a bit. Also seasonal allergies have hit all of us. I find this incredibly unfair that spring allergies have hit without spring. Poor Logan has allergies/another cold and has had a few rough nights. He's so happy but just a boogery mess. Also I can't take any of my good allergy meds while nursing. Boo. 

 

• Cole, Logan & I got to visit daddy at his home work a few weeks ago. Cole thought the whole place was pretty cool and especially loved his badge and getting a shamrock shake from Starbucks in the lobby. Daddy's work is pretty awesome.

• One lovely Wednesday I forgot Ava's glasses {made it back to the bus stop just as the bus was pulling in}, forgot Cole's backpack {and speech folder inside}, made it back home all excited to finally have my morning coffee only to see I left the gallon of milk out for over two hours. I popped Logan back in the carseat and made my way up to Dunks for a nice coffee and treat for me. It also took 1 1/2 more days to make it to the store to get milk. #momfail

just breaking out of the swaddle

• Logan has started kicking like crazy. He's a wild man in the tub and kicks his feet making all the water splash out over the sides. He cracks himself up the whole time. He's developing such a little personality now and I love it. 

• Instead of Pharrell's lyrics of "I'm up all night to get lucky" the kids came up with "mommy's up all night to feed Logan". Those two are quite talented.

• The kiddos start baseball/softball in a few weeks which means this was one of our last free weekends for a while. We played outside until the rain came on Saturday & then took the kids to family swim on Sunday. {mainly because I think we all were going to go crazy from being inside} Logan & I skipped out on family swim but Steve & the big kids had a blast. They swam for well over an hour and were exhausted when we got home. I also realized how crazy fun it's going to be taking the three of them to the pool in the summer...

Logan was requested to join the big kids during Lego time. The kids build Lego houses and then decided if they will "Love It or List It." It's too funny
and clearly we watch too much HGTV around here :)

Logan | 2 months

kickin' away

Our third kid and I still haven't figured out how to keep time from going by so fast! Our little Logan is TWO months old already! He kicked off his "birthday" with breakfast in bed and two very excited big siblings singing "Happy Birthday" complete with homemade pancakes and candles. Could they be any cuter?

Logan is much more alert this month---he's really looking around, tracking and kicking those legs like crazy! He's talking more and more which I love hearing. One day Ava & Cole were singing/dancing in kitchen and Logan was cooing right along with them. It's so fun and so loud. He loves his big sister & big brother. They get the biggest smiles out of him and he is always trying to see where they are. He is also always on the look out for me when I get back from being out---but usually to make sure food is near by than for entertainment purposes.

The sleeping is always keeping me on my toes. He'll have a few days of a routine of bed at 10:30, up at 2/2:30 and then sleep until 6/6:30 which I can handle then he'll throw a sleep-seven-hours-straight night and then he is up every 2 hours the next night. Sometimes he doesn't even want to eat---just wants to chat or cuddle. Some day we'll be on somewhat of a routine---right?

Clearly our little chunks likes to eat. He hates burping and will give me the pout and head butt me until I let him start eating again. He's gotten a lot more efficient at nursing so I don't feel like feedings are an all day event now.

Logan had his 2 month appointment and is doing great. He weighs in at 13 pounds and is 23 1/2 inches long. He's growing so fast! He also peed all over the wall and scale during his weigh in. As soon as I took his diaper off I knew he had to go but we were too slow in covering it. Such a classy one. Logan was so in love with watching his reflection and kicking his legs on the paper. He was babbling & cooing away. The doctor even said he's talking more than the average 2 month old. I told him between Ava & Cole he has to start talking now or he'd never get a word in. He had two shots which he was obviously not a fan of. He was so sad and clingy the rest of the day but seems to be doing fine now. Poor thing. Nothing a little Tylenol & some extra love couldn't fix.

He's such a sweetie and I love seeing his personality start to come through. Happy 2 months, Logan!

softball, Dr. Seuss & almost spring

A few updates from the past week:

I finally changed out some pictures on the wall---just took 2 years & a baby to do it. I don't like to rush.

Poor little Logan was still stuffy so daddy rocked the Moby 

so I could bring Ava to softball

Ms. Ava at softball

Love these two sharing a sweet moment

Last week was Dr. Seuss week so we had themed days. First up was Dr. Seuss {red, white, black} to kick off the read-a-thon

reading a Seuss book to her brothers---love these moments

wacky wednesday

Ava was also invited to join the writing club---4 students are chosen to expand on their writing talents. It's apparently a very prestigious honor in the kindergarten world. Ava had her first meeting and loved it! She's always been one to carry about a notebook to write so I'm thrilled she has this outlet.

Ah the chub on this one!

The kids made a deck using our chairs complete with grill---can you tell we are anxious for warmer weather?

We have had a few nice days. We've been talking walks and playing outside for a good chunk of the day. It's been amazing. {of course it is snowing and 5 degrees as I type this...}. Everyone is just generally happier when we are out and being active, not to mention bedtime is such a breeze compared to when we are all stuck inside.

Logan enjoying the ride

we have a whole bunch of body outlines on our driveway. It was a fun idea until I stepped back and realized it looks like something straight out of CSI

Steve had to work from home on Saturday which meant keeping the kiddos occupied. We went for a long walk, played outside and braved my first solo trip to BJs with them. There was some dancing in the aisles and a promise of a cookie but they were so good! Logan even slept the whole time and the kids were so helpful. You know next time will be a total disaster but at least we got one good one in. Also the sweetest old man told me God has a special place for mama's of two boys. I believe he was talking about a packie. 

Logan turned 2 months and Ava wrote him this adorably sweet note:
To Logan
do you know how much I love you? So much. Happy 2 months.
Love, Ava and Cole
melt.

Oh these baby smiles!

three.

By far the most common question that's been asked is "How was the adjustment to three?". And I usually reply "Good! Busy but good!"

And it has been. I think with Ava our whole world shifted to revolve around her but with number three it's so different. It was different adjusting from 1 to 2 and a different different adjusting from 2 to 3. Not bad at all but just a different dynamic. Time doesn't just stop when Logan needs to eat and he's never going to nap in peace or have a single nursing session that doesn't involve me helping, fixing or doing something else but he is the most loved little brother ever.

 Steve & I were driving the other day with the whole gang and talking about how it just doesn't feel like it was much of a transition. Not that it's not a challenge at times but it's almost like he's just always been here. It could be his personality or whatever but he's just fit so perfectly into our family. Now I fully know it's going to be a completely different story once he starts moving around--- and when the walking starts you know I'll be having a glass of wine every night :)

a little love notes stuck on him

Our biggest change from adding Cole to adding Logan is our schedule. Ava was just a toddler when we had Cole so there was no where we had to be {minus doctor appointments and the like}. If we had a rough night, we could just camp out in our pjs for the day. We also could look forward to synchronized nap times which meant mama could nap too. I now have this fear that I am going to fall asleep and miss preschool pick up or getting Ava off the bus.

Now that the kiddos are older, there are places we have to be. It doesn't matter if Logan finally falls back asleep at 6:30 from a 5 am wake up. Ava has to be up and out the door for the bus at 8 then Cole needs to be out for preschool at 8:40. Which means making sure we are all dressed and somewhat presentable that early in the morning. Snacks and lunches have to be packed, homework and speech need to be done as well as the extras like dance, baseball, activities, playdates etc. There are many times Logan won't be quite done with eating but he has to be thrown back in the car so we can make it to pick up on time. So far he's been so fantastic in the car {thank goodness!} and I'm praying that continues.

It is nice that the kids are older and they are huge helps. It is also nice that we do have a few hours a day of just focusing on Logan and by focusing on Logan I obviously mean cramming in laundry, cleaning, appointments etc. on top of tending to a new baby. I do cherish having this one on one time with him and being able to trust the big kids to help out more.

The first few weeks were just crazy and pure survival mode once we brought him home. We were so grateful for help just getting laundry done, driving kiddos etc. Now some times of the day are crazy but mostly it's been going well. We are slowly getting the hang of getting everyone out the door, running errands with everyone {including my first solo BJs shopping trip with all three littles} and managing everyone's schedules. Hubs is still working so hard on this huge project which means hours of 8-7 or 8-9 every day. Which means some days my patience barely gets through bedtime because I am exhausted and trying to nurse, make dinner, finish homework, referee, pack lunches, read, give showers, change diapers, do laundry and get everyone to bed and make sure the house doesn't quite look like a bomb went off. Hubs is obviously a huge help when he's home but some nights he misses all the fun :)

 So I do sometimes have the guilt of not doing as many art projects or all the fun stuff we normally do and some days I feel like its constantly putting out little fires and not spending quality one-on-one time with each of them. But I can now pretty much do anything one handed while feeding Logan. The kids are fantastic at helping him although sometimes don't know when to stop "helping" him. Sometimes we just drop everything and have a dance party instead of throwing in another load of laundry because I might go crazy if I wash/dry/fold one more thing we can just dig something out of the back of the closet to wear.

But even with the crazy times it's been so amazing. I can't even put into words how full my heart is when Logan smiles at Ava & Cole, or they read to him or when they are all piled in our bed on weekend mornings. It's so sappy that it's everything I've dreamed about {although in my dreams my house was always sparkling clean...}. So while it's been crazy and we know we have a lot more crazier days ahead it's been so so good. We are so blessed & so in love. And so thankful for coffee & planners to stay somewhat organized.