What my Husband Does to Give me Rest....

Brian wanted to take the kids out for a brisk walk (aka... some exercise). Lately he has been trying to take the three older kids to give me 30 minutes of rest (especially if Nate is sleeping).

I definitely appreciate all of his efforts....

Especially when he goes through soo much to make the ride more comfortable for the kids.

He likes to call it "country engineering"!!

Stink... I forgot to take a picture of how he attached it!! I'd explain it with words like "do-dads" and "pieces" ... LOL!!

But Brian says I should just say it was a stick and a couple of ring clamps... yes, this is Country Engineering at it's finest!!

I wasn't quite "wordless" today.... but I'd love to share these fun pics;) So Happy WW to you all:)

Tiny Talk Tuesday - Little Momma Lydia

Lydia: Is he's head in-charge yet?? (aka.. does he have control of his head/neck)

Lydia has also been asking to clean Nate's diapers!!! LOL!!! She actually vounteered for this job BEFORE Nate was born:) She's has cleaned some very dirty diapers ;) But here is video i got of one of her attempts:)

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8 Weeks - 2 Months - BabyWise??

My "little" Nate is 2 MOnths!! Amazing that we'll probably be talking about him in terms of MONTHS now instead of weeks!

The time has seemed to "fly" by!! While I know we had some "rough" days, they have been forgotten and now we are trying to savor these sweet baby days that are quickly fleeting!

I haven't talked much about my baby-parenting style.... there's all sorts of stuff out there... attachment parenting, BabyWise, etc! Well I haven't talked much b/c I don't really fit into a certain "model" I kinda just take ideas and use what works for us.

When we had little Anna, I was soo determined to be a mom with it "all together". When a seasoned mom suggest I read through BabyWise, I did. And when little Anna came home and was a few weeks old we started putting the BabyWise model into practice!

I was a stressed wreck. My babe was constantly off her 3 hour schedule. I didn't enjoy the newborn days. She screamed during nursing times. We let her cry (scream her head off) for almost an hour to "train" her how to fall asleep on her own when we was less than 2 months old. It was terrible.

My sweet friend saw the stress and suggested I take some of the ideas from BabyWise and ditch the rest that was stressing me out. So we did!

The things I have liked about BabyWise is the sleep-eat-play routine and the goal of having them learn to sleep soundly. So with Anna, Chris and Lydia that's what we focused on. And they were and are very sound, good little sleepers!!

With the older three I also kept a log of when they ate, about how long they ate, what I had eaten and some of their fussy behavior. I did this partially to keep a record to make sure I was feeding them enough:) And partially to figure out the foods that were making them fussy or spitting up a lot.

I'm a little more laid back with NATE not keeping track of everything, not looking at the clock constantly, etc!!

I've started to get Nate on the sleep-eat-play routine these last 2 or 3 weeks just because he's been in such a fussy spell. And it seemed like he's been too tired to nurse well sometimes. Or really hyper so he has a hard time falling asleep!

So this week it started to fall into place and make sense (for Nate).

I have found that he's usually on a 2-hour -ish schedule during the day:

He'll wake and immediately want to nurse. We'll nurse, change a diaper and burp. Then he'll have a 20 -30 minute window to "play". The goal is to get him into one spot that he can stay for a NAP.

When I put him down happy, content, not-even looking sleepy, he'll unwind and look round then fall asleep with NO help and NO paci.

When I miss the "content time", he fusses for a bit or plays the "spit out the paci I want" game before settling down with our help.

If I really miss the time - it's ROUGH. He'll want to nurse earlier than the 2 hours, but not nurse completely and fuss through the feeding. He wants to be held with the paci the whole time until we finally coax (or bounce) him to sleep.

The funny thing is that when we're away from the house - at the store, library, park,etc- he shuts down and sleeps. He'll miss his "expected" feedings and be super fussy as we work him back into "his" routine when we get home.

These realizations have made for an "easier" week with Nate. I've actually been hands-free, not wearing baby to get some housework and homeschooling done this week.... nice to have clean toilets again and be finished a couple of chapters of history:)

And honestly, with Nate being a little more content, the days are a little more enjoyable instead of "draining". Not to say that we've got it all figured out...

if I remember ANYTHING about infants it's that their routine changes constantly:) But at least we've figured out that Nate likes sleep, sleeps often and will easily fall asleep on his own when put down BEFORE he is fussy.

Other changes:

• Baby acne continues to clear up:)
  
• Smiling at the kids more and more
• Likes to watch TV while Anna holds him "upright"
• Seems like his head/neck has more control - he's holding upright more often and for longer periods
• Really likes to he held so he can look around, unless he's sleepy
  
• Smiling at toys
• Doesn't like it when Mommy eats baked beans :(
• Sleeping in two 4-5 hour blocks at night - might be why he's eating every 2 hours during the day - I'll take it:)
• Making more cooo-ing type noises and stares at us like he's trying to talk:)

Answers for the boys' pictures

You all are GOOD!! Man, they are MY kiddos and I was amazed at how much they looked alike as babes:)

And Jenny said in a comment that she thinks my kids look alike. I think it's great since they are siblings, but to me they don't look alike minus some features, like the girls have the same color and hair type! ANna, Chris and Lydia all have different color eyes... etc!!

The boys though DO look alike to me:) here are the pics again with the answers:)

#1 - Nate

#2- Chris

#3 - Nate

#4 - Chris (but Nate gives us that same expression)

This is Chris!! I had forgotten how chubby he got!

This is Anna!!
I was soo surprised when I saw this picture b/c she has Nate's "raisin face", Chris' nose and Lydia's mouth:)

Which boy is it???

Since Nate's been born we've wondered WHO he favors!

One of the funniest conversations was with some ladies in our town office. Two ladies had given their option of who Nate looked like. One was certain he favored Lydia and the other thought he favored Chris. Then a third lady walked through the door and said, "Don't you think he really favors Anna?" LOL!!

We were looking through some baby books with one of the ladies last week and there were some pictures of Christopher that looked like Nate... in fact, in a couple of years it will be hard to figure out who is in which picture....

want to try now???

#1

#2

#3

#4

And the teacher in me has to give you a Bonus pic... LOL!!
Which of my boys is this??


And heres the Challenge pic for those who really have talent at this... which of my 4 kids is THIS??

Wishing Grandma a Happy Birthday!!!

Here's Grandma's singing Birthday card!!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday, Grandma!
We'll see you soon:)

Toy Story 3

Earlier this week we headed to the movies with some friends. We had heard good things about Toy Story 3 and knew the kids would enjoy going with friends.

I have to confess that I didn't check out Plugged In Online before we went. With the many good reviews from friends we just went ahead:) I was glad that (for the most part) their reviews were right. It was a relativity good movie and makes us want to see the others!

My only problems were the name calling (idiot, stupid, etc), the intense scenes (that's for the Daddys that bring the kids!!), the lying and meanness between the leader toys at the day care and then the gender jokes about Ken.

Some of those issues seemed to go "over my kids' heads".... but not the intense scenes!! At one point Chris stood up out of his seat and screamed what sounded like "JUMP!". And another time I saw him crouched down behind the seat in front of him peaking between the seats.... but that's the adventure of watching anything with Chris... he really gets into the movie/show!!

Hopefully some of the meanness and ugly words don't make it into our house!

At dinner we asked the kids (and shared our own) favorite parts:
(might be a spoiler, if you haven't seen it and plan to!)

• Lydia's - The purple bear. We explained that it was the "mean" bear but she said that "that's why I like him".... oh, my sweet Lydia!!
• Chris liked when Buzz Lightyear picked up the train. That was soo the opening scene of the movie that he remembered.
• We're not sure what Anna liked the most. She mentioned the Barbie character??
• Brian loved the opening scene as well!! The action and intensity... sounds like a boy:)
• I liked the last scene (i think) when Andy plays with his toys and the little girl before he gives them away. It's the final "playtime" and touching to see an almost college guy playing with his toys and a little preschooler. I'm such a girl:)

Days later I was about to throw away a diaper box but then I remembered the scenes of the kids from Toy Story turning the boxes into great things and using their creativity! Then I remembered reading that one of our history activities was to make chariots out of old boxes!! So that's what we worked on!!!

I'm not sure I'll think of a box the same way, again thanks to Toy Story!

And another random thing I took from the movie was the actual toybox.... I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how to best store the kids' toys in the attic. We have two small "hall" storage areas where some "system" could be use to "organize" all the toys! But I was reminded by my sweet hubby about the toybox from the movie and how simple and easy it would be to clean up....

so I've been almost convinced that that's what we'll do. Although I'm NOT a "throw it in the box" Momma and the smaller toys that we'll eventually need to keep away from Nate will go in latched containers and stored on a shelf:)

Nate behaved himself during the movie, after a feeding and a diaper change (yes, both in the theatre so Momma could watch the movie!). I never attempted to bring the others to the movies when they were babes.... MAN!! Brian and I could have watched all sorts of movies... LOL!!

Anyway, we did enjoy our outing... and I am attempted to "catch up" and watch the other Toy Story movies.

WW: Breakfast a la Chris

One morning as I took some "down time" Chris (my non-brekfast eater) called to me that he was going to "make his own breakfast!! I did ask what he was going to attempt to make and knew that he'd be fine.... minus some butter and soy butter smeared on the counters or his shirt.

So he toaste his bagel. Put on butter and then soy butter. Then he called to me about the cinnamon-sugar which we didn't have any pre-made at the time....

so he improvised.... with Smarties!!! LOL!!


Why not??? When you're making your own breakfast!!!

you're only 4 once:)

And yes... i sure did take pictures of his creative breakfast AND let him EAT it:)

Lydia's Newest Feat

Lydia is a very independent little girl! She is tries to keep up with Anna and Chris. She has watched Anna ride without training wheels for over a year now.

Sunday, Chris asked to practice riding his bike without training wheels. After a couple of attempts and falls, he was ready to go back to digging;)

But Lydia saw the opportunity to practice some too:) And so Brian helped her get on and held her while she peddled a little while..... and then she was gone!

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We need to work on the dismount:) And getting on the bike!

But other than that I'm soo proud of her. She falls down and jumps back on!! I starting riding a bike without training wheels when I was 10!! Yes, 10 years old! And here's my little "tomboy princess" riding around the yard at 3!!!

The Many Faces of our 7 Week Old

A little cautious

And lots of smiles!!!

Nate this week:

• His baby acne is clearing up
• Cradle cap has come.... but seems to be doing better after 3 washes with Head& Shoulders
• He's been pulling his own hair - something Anna used to do
• Last week and this week I have had foods baked with eggs or mayo... more spit-up! So I'm thinking eggs might be a problem for Nate like Chris and Lydia! I'll know more in couple of months when Nate's patterns and personality are more known and we can tell a definite change when I eat "allergy" foods.
• On Sunday his every 2 hour feedings were stretched to every 3 hours, except starting at 5pm-ish he acted like he wanted to eat every 1.5 hours... yikes! So who knows what this week will look like.... funny, but I had gotten kind of used to every 2 hours.
  

Our Favorite Thing About Daddy

I thought it would be fun to ask the kids what their favorite thing about or what they do with their Daddy. We did it during church with the kids in the nursery, so then we asked the kids during lunch with all of us around the table.

Here are some of their answers!

• He helps me ride my bike without training wheels.
• He plays soccer with me.
• He jumps on the trampoline with me.
• He takes us on walks with him.
• He the payer (she clarified, "he pays for us when we go to a restaurant").
• He reads to us.
• He's the giant on the trampoline.
• He plays games with us.
  

*** I love that these are such simple and sweet things.... not big trips or things that require a lot money!! The kids value and love TIME with their Daddy!!

and then there is Nate's onesie that says it ALL!!

Happy Father's Day
to Our Super Hero Daddy!!!

and to our Dads!!

Give me Some S'more

Last Friday and Saturday we went to visit with Grammie and Pey. The first day was busy with trip to a local garden...


We kind of chuckled that we were enjoying a "school day".... but the reality is that at my kids' stage we learn soo much anytime we are outside finding new stuff and really looking for things in nature.



Of course at this garden, the most exciting part for the kids is the Splash Pad... all the kids LOVED it. I only got pics of the girls though b/c I was nursing Nate while Chris was in the water... and he wore himself out before I could get the camera out!



Then we went to Grammie's and the kids swam their little hearts out:)


The cool thing this year is that both Chris and Ann can touch in the shallow end. With their swimming abilities and the fact that they can touch and that an ADULT is in the water with them.....

they were arm floatie- free!! Oh, I love this pick with Anna and Chris enjoying their freedom together!


After dinner we used Grammie's Mother's Day present.... a fire pit!


The kids got their first taste of s'mores. With our food allergies, finding milk-free, egg-free, peanut-free chocolate and graham crackers is challenging. But Grammie searched the racks and found some graham crackers. And then we used semi-sweet chocolate morsels (we have more luck with the store brand).

Chris and Lydia loved them!!




And here's Chris making his own marshmallow.... funny b/c I was supposed to be helping him and only when I took the picture did I realize his marshmallow was on fire!


It's always an action-packed adventure when we head up to Grammie and Pey's!

And I should be totally honest that Nate was very challenging while away. I realize now it was in the middle of a growth spurt.... but add in heat, being totally off-schedule, Momma trying to help with meals and other challenges of getting out of the house.... and it's no wonder why he was fussy.

We're hoping to travel some more in the next few weeks. But we need to go with the mindset... at least during the actual driving that we are going to have to make a lot more stops... some a little longer than normal so Nate can stick to his feeding schedule so he's not too fussy at the final destination.

And since I shared the girls in the Spray Pad and the pool pics!! You can water is our favorite in the summer!! And this is totally the theme at You Capture this week:)

Cousin Time

This weekend we spent time with Hannah Grace...

it's amazing it's been a year and that she has already celebrated her 1st Birthday!!

And now she is walking while holding someone's hand;)

Unfortunately we're not around her more often, she does seem though to be a happy little girl:)

My girls doted on her the whole time!! They watched her every move and tried to help whenever possible!
Here's the batch of cousins;)


You can find some other picture posts at Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom and Go Graham Go!!!