Hey, y’all! I might be a day late on joining my usual Currently link up, but better late than never, right? I’m joining Becky at Choose Happy and the other fabulous bloggers to bring you this week’s Currently. Join us to let us know what’s going on with you currently!
Enjoying || some sweet moments between all the siblings. EK and j have been getting along a little better (I’m scared to type that for fear it’ll make it stop) and D has been getting some incredibly sweet snuggles from both of them. Lots of hugging and kissing around here, y’all.
Hoping || to get a few specific pictures this week. As of right now, the only picture of the five of us is yesterday’s epic selfie (below), and I’ve only got one (okay) picture of the three kids. Part of me is saying, “Eh, there’s a lifetime to get those pictures.” But the rest of me wants at least one while D is still tiny! Here’s hoping I get a better one than this:
Trying || to stick to a schedule. Having a newborn is tough when they’re supposed to eat every two hours. Try keeping up with that while also making sure the other two are entertained and have what they need, as well as pumping a couple of extra times a day to keep my supply up? Bordering on impossible. To heck with laundry and dishes. Yikes.
Thankful for || an incredible husband who’s been taking a late-night shift with D to let me get some sleep early on in the night. He’s a rockstar, y’all.
Reading || the last bit of the Maze Runner series. I’m in the book that is actually a prequel to the rest of the books… so I’m getting that back story I was craving the whole time! When I finish this, I’ll be working on Loving the Little Years and starting something else to be my “pleasure reading”. Do you have any suggestions for me?
Well, that’s all for now. Please comment and let me know what you’re up to!
Happy Tuesday! What a week it’s been since last Tuesday… we are talking HUGE life changes for everyone around here, adding baby D to our ranks! Lots of cute things happening in the toddler world…
This catches pretty truthfully the chaos and love surrounding our little D at all times.
When talking about the theme of next week’s summer camp (ocean commotion)…
EK: I’m a mermaid, just like you! And Joseph’s a shark, just like dad. We all have tails.
Science, y’all.
Swinging outside in the backyard…
EK: this is the best party ever!
As we are pulling out of the driveway (in our old car)…
EK: Bye bye, new car! We can ride in you later, when baby Davis gets born!
What can I say? She loves it.
Seeing D for the first time, in the hospital…
Hubby: EK, who is this?
EK: Baby Davis. (Looks around skittishly.)
Hubby: Isn’t he cute?
EK: (Looks quickly at D, then quickly away again.) Mmhmm.
Hubby: Do we love him?
EK: Mmhmm. (Looks for approval.)
Hubby: Want to give him a kiss?
EK: (Fastest ever) Mwah.
Me: Maybe she’ll like him better at home?
The next evening, when we brought D home…
J: Mommy! Baby! Mommy! Baby!
EK: It’s my baby brother Davis! (Continues on for five minutes, talking to D, talking about D, and kissing D, all the while she and J are alternately trying to climb in the infant seat with him.)
Last night, while snuggling in my bed before she went downstairs to her room…
EK: Mommy, are those your jewries? (Jewelry)
Me: Yep!
EK: When the sun comes up, you can put on your jewries and go to church and siiiiing… And I can put on my jewries and go to church too! We gon’ have so much fun!
EK to my mom: Let me check your baby. (Holds stethoscope to her belly.) I gotta see if her’s in there.
EK, on toenail polish: I wanna pick out my color! I want barkle! (Sparkle. – I hope.)
On our first full day home, I was in the chair in the nursery (a La-Z-Boy rocker/recliner that I LOVE, aka big enough to hold me and plenty more) nursing D, and J came in. He carefully chose a book, climbed gingerly into the chair to sit next to me, and “read” the entire book (Room on the Broom, which we love, even this far away from Halloween) to D and me. It was one of the sweetest things I’ve experienced so far… A sweet little date with my boys.
I’m linking up this week as usual with Becky at Choose Happy, bringing you the most exciting news I will likely have for a long time!
Introducing || Davis Ryan! Born last Thursday, very early in the morning, after a hard albeit short labor and quick delivery. He weighed 7lbs 15oz, and measured 21 inches long (the same length as his brother and his sister). A full birth story is in the works, so look for that next week. For now, here are a few pictures of our little guy! We are so in love!
Appreciating || so many friends and family members who are already feeding us, helping out, and loving us as a family of five! Thanks, everyone! Your support and love means so much to us.
Surviving || as well as I can on very little sleep. Last night was our hardest night yet, and we are hoping not to have another one quite like that. I don’t want to add too much caffeine back into my diet (I mean, I didn’t lay off of it completely but I had scaled it way back) until I know how D is gonna handle it. So for now I’m trying to survive on little sleep and little caffeine. Phew.
Learning || how to balance my attentions and my focus between my three kids, my husband, my house, etc. I have a feeling this may be a long journey to finding out exactly what’s best. EK is in camp again this week in the mornings, so that is a fun thing for her to do that helps me out as far as maybe sneaking a morning nap or getting some housework done. J also enjoys the break from EK, since they often like to play with the same toys. He likes a little time to be the main man around the house!
Enjoying || watching my kids love on each other. J and EK are both enthralled with the baby, wanting to kiss him and snuggle him and tickle him. It’s pretty darn cute, folks. And as always, I’m loving watching Hubby snuggle that tiny child. He is always so gentle and dear with a newborn, and it literally melts my heart to see him with one of our own little newborns again. Am I allowed to say that I wish we could have a tiny one all the time? Ha!
Well, I will try to update as much as I can through the busyness of this season, but if you don’t hear from me, don’t leave me! I promise I’ll be around on Facebook and Instagram, if not the blog. Look out for Toddler Tuesday tomorrow, because it’s coming for sure!
Please leave comments and tell me what’s going on with you currently!
Happy Monday! I hope y’all had a wonderful weekend! I’m joining Becky at Choose Happy again this week for her currently link up. Lots of pictures in store for you today – I hope you enjoy it! Leave a comment or join the link up and let me know what’s going on with you!
Loving || Our finished shower! We chose a dark grout (it matches the wall color we chose almost perfectly!) to offset the white subway tile, and I really like the effect. We don’t have a door quite yet, because our old one is now too big, so we aren’t able to use it till we get one. Otherwise, I’m really happy with it! We need a little paint touching up in a few places, but it looks awesome.
Still undecided on the mirrors… there are two of those and they’ll be almost touching. What do you think?
Eating || at the Honey Pot! It’s a local restaurant here, and the chef is actually a friend of Hubby’s from high school. It is AMAZING. The food is fresh, mostly local, and really creative. Most of all, it’s plated beautifully and it’s outstandingly delicious! (If you’re local, check out their website here.) I wish I had taken a picture of every dish, but it was too good to not just eat it immediately. However, this dessert – a Georgia peach tart, with basil crema, accented with tiger lilies (who knew you could eat them?!) – was so beautiful I had to take a picture. And folks, it was as good as it looks. Really.
Growing || tomatoes and peppers! I mean, we are growing other stuff too, but those are our most fruitful plants at the moment. We’ve had one eggplant and some cucumbers and an ENORMOUS zucchini (I talked about that here) as well. Here are a few pictures I snapped last night as I was harvesting…
Planning || A baby shower! My sweet friend from college Melissa is expecting her first baby (a little girl!) in a couple of months, and my friend Lauren and I are throwing her a shower. We had a planning session this afternoon, and I can’t wait to post with a bunch of pictures after we shower her with love on Saturday!
Enjoying || this little series of photos. The first picture is the night before I had J… EK sprawled across my belly, the tiny little thing that she was, in her mismatched Christmas jammies. I’ve always loved that photo, and so now while I’m not so far away from having baby D, I thought it would be fun to try to recreate the moment with my two older sweeties sitting on top of their little brother!
Well, that’s about it in my world. Just waiting on baby D to get here! I have a post coming soon about how I packed my hospital bag – look for it this week!
We had just come back from a quick overnight trip to the mountains. We had mostly unpacked, the kids were playing with their toys we’d left behind (because 24 hours away makes them seem new!) and Hubby and I both had some work to get done. While he started getting ready for his gig, I retreated to my computer to do some work for my service on Sunday. I was probably out of the room (the living room… where everyone else was) for about seven or eight minutes total, when I came back through the house.
EK saw me coming and happily shouted, “Mom! I’m cutting Jophiss’ hair!”
I wasn’t alarmed yet. She often took a plastic toy knife and sawed away at her own or her brother’s hair, jabbering on about haircuts. But I quickly saw that this time, there was no pretend sawing happening. My pink-handled scissors from the kitchen drawer were being used to strew my son’s perfectly virgin curls all over the floor. Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized what couldn’t be taken back: he had just received his first haircut. No little ceremony, no taking pictures, no sweet, little-boy ‘do resulted from this experience. Just a jagged chunk taken from over his left eye. And now? Nothing left to do but just take that line all the way across his forehead.
So sitting in the floor, tears blurring my eyes (safety first!) I took the blasted scissors, and finished the job. Of course, he figured he didn’t need to sit still for me, so it took a couple of tries to get a semi-straight line of “bangs” across his big noggin. (I want you to know I’m still crying a little as I write this.)
A couple of days later, we’d started to get used to his new look. At least we didn’t have to swoop the bangs over to get them out of his eyes, right? Anyway, one evening J took a big spill and bonked his forehead on a door, right between his eyes. After I got him calmed down, gave him some Tylenol to ease the blow, got him snuggled in my lap and his whimpering stopped, I only had one thing to say. I looked up at my worried mother-in-law, who had helped me get him calmed down, and said, “Well, if EK hadn’t cut his hair, we wouldn’t even be able to see his giant bruise!”
Because making light of a stressful situation (even by making fun of a previous stressful situation) can dispel that tension and get a giggle out of even the most concerned grandparent.
Sometimes, there are beautiful, unplanned moments of bonding with your little ones. Moments like these can’t be fabricated or sought out. You just get to be blissfully surprised when they happen.
The other night, the kids got their dinner and bath early, and so there was quite a bit of play time before it was time to go to bed. In J’s new room downstairs, we have a queen size bed waiting for him to move into it. (Okay fine, there’s nowhere else to put it for the next few months before he’s ready for it.) Anyway, EK, J and I were piled on the bed. They had some toys they were playing with, and I was half playing on my phone, and half falling asleep. These days (33 weeks, for crying out loud!), it’s difficult to not want to nod off at every opportunity. After a little while, EK ran off to go find Daddy and I was left with J nestled in that space between my belly and knees, happily playing with his toys.
After my eyes had been closed for a minute or two, J crawled up next to my face, and started jabbering away about something. He does this fairly often, delivering a monologue that only he can fully understand, but that we all stop and listen to. I opened my eyes and looked at him, and he just stared into my eyes and talked to me. How I wish I knew what he was saying! Telling me secrets of dreams and desires, or just telling me he’d rather I fix his dinner some other way, I don’t know, but I loved just listening to his scruffy voice, lilting as though with perfect English.
I rolled over onto my back, and he crawled on my belly, still jabbering on. When he paused, I leaned forward a little bit, giving him what (I didn’t realize then) must’ve been his first Eskimo kiss – you know, where you rub your noses together? His giggles filled the room, vigorously shaking his head back and forth against mine, trying unsuccessfully to recreate the nose rubs. Every time I drew our faces together and “Eskimo kissed” him, he dissolved into giggles, rolling back and forth across my swollen belly.
Now, bringing the attention to my belly, the very tangible reminder of the time soon to come, I thought about how in a few weeks, my attention will be split even further, as I nurture and nourish our third child. These uninterrupted moments with my oldest two will be harder to come by than they already are. But for right now, I’m going to rest in the moments that are just us. Even if I’m tired (falling asleep, even) or uncomfortable or just want to be by myself. I’m going to come when they call me, and say yes more often. I’m going to treat myself and them to more special moments of “just us”.
This post appeared on the My Big Jesus blog! We spent today bopping around town, carrying kids to and fro, shopping for this and getting ready for that. Our house is a madhouse, like it often is these days. I don’t mind – really, I don’t. I know that it’s a season, and that things will return to a semi-normal. I know that my kids will be these ages but once. I know that my niece and nephew (who I also got to see this evening!) will be these ages but once.
Yet, my lovely and insightful mother-in-law said something to me, in passing really, tonight that made me think. She had spent the morning with my son, and part of the afternoon with my daughter. She said, “I don’t know how y’all do it with these two. I guess I did it with mine, but I’m exhausted!” Going on, she explained that she meant chasing them around her house, entertaining them, and making sure nothing got broken.
Well let me tell you, I understood her completely. While my house is basically baby-proofed and I can let them run free a little more in our home than she can in hers (split-level=stairs upon stairs) I am still frequently exhausted at the end of the day. Even if I haven’t completed a single housekeeping task, or didn’t get in a work out, or haven’t left the house, or if I did catch a little snooze during someone’s naptime, I’m often exhausted.
It isn’t simply that my back hurts, or that I’m sleep deprived, although sometimes those things are true. (Have you lugged around a 30lb sack of flour recently?) It’s emotional exhaustion. It’s mental exhaustion. I’m not a creative person, so EK really makes me work my imagination (ie: silly voices, strange scenarios, and telling her “stories” that I made up). I’m constantly trying to think of ways to educate – nay, entertain – two developmental levels, two totally different personalities. I’m trying to explain to my daughter why she should share, can’t push her brother, and shouldn’t scream in the house. I’m trying to distract my son when he just wants to be held – for the entire 12 hours he is awake. I’m trying to make healthy breakfasts and dinners that also look enticing and taste delicious. I’m trying to not lose patience with messes and attitudes and too-short naps and refused meals. It’s a lot. It’s trying, giving, sacrificing, and pushing myself.
So yes, in a word, I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted when I think of how much love I’ve got in my heart for these little beings that need me so. I’m exhausted when I think that by the end of this summer, I’ll have a third little being that needs me like these two do. I’m exhausted when I think that in 18 years, they’ll need me so much less. I’m exhausted to think they won’t always snuggle into my neck or say “mmmmmm-ah!” when I ask for a kiss. But being exhausted in the midst of right now is a fulfilled, happy exhaustion. When I slip into my bed, and don’t have time to finish one sentence in my book, I’m not really upset about it. I’m just wishing I had more patience, more creativity, more knowledge to share with those exciting, excitable toddlers that I call my own.
My eldest child is a daughter. My daughter is not an athlete. I don’t consider this to be a reflection on her gender. I don’t consider this to be a reflection on her girlhood. I consider it to be a bit of laziness and a bit of clumsiness, combined with the fact that mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and everyone in her life have always done what she needed. She loves to dance and loves to run, but she is not very graceful. It’s endearing, truly.
My son however it is already running as soon as he learned to walk. He is climbing. He is jumping and shouting and being fast and crazy. The desire to be faster and stronger is so much more with the second child. I don’t think their differences are boy versus girl. I think their differences have more to do with the fact that my son has always wanted to catch up to my daughter. Maybe it’s just a second child thing.
Those things being said, I will fully support the habits, desires and interests of my kids. If EK wants to try out for every sports team her entire life, I’ll support it. If J never wants to do anything athletic in his life, I’ll support it. I want them to be well-rounded, but also happy. I’d love them to be musical and athletic and theatrical and academic and social and everything all at once… wouldn’t everyone like their kids to have talent out the wazoo and be gifted in anything they tried? But that just isn’t the most practical thing to expect of your child.
I know my kids aren’t old enough to have really shown us what their talents or interests are yet, but I’m preparing for it. I know it’s coming. And when it comes, we’ve got ten years at least of it being a huge part of our lives. I don’t want to be a mom who forces her kids into things they don’t care about, or makes them stick with what they started for several more years, even if they hate it. That being said, we won’t decide that our first piano lesson wasn’t what we thought and we can just quit. We also, won’t try one new thing every single year till high school graduation. That just gets too crazy. We will strive for a good balance, no over commitment, and the most fun and learning. Those are the priorities.
EK: (Pointing at the bump) Mama! You got a baby in your tummily?
Me: Yes! Are you excited?
EK: Yeah, I love him!
Me: Do you remember his name?
EK: *says the name* My friend! He is so special!
Me: That’s a wonderful thing to say! I think he’s special, too.
EK: You go to the doctor to make sure he’s safe? (That’s how I had explained going to the doctor so much.)
Me: Yes, I go to the doctor to check on the baby and make sure he’s safe.
I’m blown away by the little gal’s love and kindness toward him already. However, sometimes I wish she’d show a little more love and kindness to the brother that’s outside my womb.
So, I don’t know what actually, truly constitutes a “toddler”, by definition anyway, but there is no one that “toddles” as much as my little one year old guy, so I’m guessing that qualifies him as a toddler. So, in effect, I have two toddlers.
That’s a scary sentence. Let’s say it again, for effect:
I. Have. Two. Toddlers. Yikes.
Double shower/teeth brushing. Typical.
This means that life can be crazy. As a quick story, this morning, Hubby was in the shower, I was getting J dressed, and EK had been playing with toys in the living room. The next thing I know, I don’t see or hear her, so I dare to peek out the front door. She’s on the sidewalk, with a nice lady who has pulled over to ask the little girl where her mommy is. It could not have been more than 120 seconds that she was outside, but still. I know, awful things could have happened. I’m thankful they didn’t. We have a chain on the top of the door that’s usually locked, and when we took the trash out after breakfast, we forgot to lock it back. Parenting 101, epically failed.
She is the experienced toddler, who knows all about crying when she doesn’t get what she wants. She knows all about working the room. She knows all about needing to potty right after she’s gone to bed, and about sneaking around the house really quietly in the morning in search of candy before Mommy manages to drag her exhausted self out of bed. Right now, our biggest fights are over nightgowns. She has two frilly little nightgowns she loves to wear, and if I let her, she’d wear them all day. Every once in a while, I break down and let her put it on for a nap, because as she reminds me, nightgowns are something you wear while you sleep. (Cue face palm because I should have said “sleeping AT NIGHT”.) If they are both in the laundry, then all bets for going to bed are off, because regular pajamas WILL NOT BE PUT ON HER BODY. So there.
One of the two favored nightgowns. Funny side note: she’s never watched Sophia the First.Photo from http://www.imgarcade.com
I also have one brand new toddler who, in addition to being extremely clumsy, is also very brave. Scaling furniture is less of a problem for him than simply walking from the car to the front door. Climbing the shelves in the kitchen is much easier than getting into his toddler-sized chair. He’s a little like the Tazmanian Devil, what with the messes that tend to follow him everywhere. He HATES the word “no” right now. If I have to tell him to stop doing something (smashing my laptop, carrying Daddy’s coffee around the room, etc) he immediately dissolves into wails. I think he just hears the word so often that he’s grown to hate it. I’m trying to figure out something else to say instead, but there’s just nothing as good as plain ol’ “no”.
My little guy, eating his eclectic meal and then spreading it all over creation.We managed to never have this problem with EK…
However, there are some pretty hilarious perks.
J says “thank you” to and for everything. He hands me something, and says it. He takes something from me, and says it. Picks something up off the floor, and says it. Puts a toy away, and says it. I guess I say it a lot? He also is doing this funny thing where he will eat almost anything, but only about 5 bites of it. His plate is very eclectic, because I know that bites 6-10 are wasted, so it’s got to be 5 bites of 5 different things. The things we do to ensure that our kids are eating enough…
I ask them to eat dinner when we’re at home, they holler and make a mess. Daddy takes them out to eat, and they look like angels all night.
EK is extremely good at communicating now, but every once in a while she gets stuck on something. She can’t quite get herself unbuckled from her car seat (I’m pretty sure I’m glad about it) but she can get one buckle undone, and then yells, “Somebody! HELP ME!” like I’m kidnapping her. I think it’s hilarious, but the passersby may think otherwise. She also loves the song from The Sound of Music “Do-Re-Mi” and whenever she sings it, she starts like this: “Do a deer, I call myself. Fa, a long long way to run. So, I need to pull a thread. La, I need to follow so. Ti, blah-blah-blah-blah bread! Sing sing back to do!” It’s basically the best. Whenever she starts singing it, Hubby and I just look at each other and try not to laugh until she’s finished. Her other key phrase is “Oh my gosh!” No explanation needed.
Keep the toddler on your lap for a snuggle whenever you can, because it isn’t often.
What are some crazy antics of your toddlers? Anything they say that’s hilarious every time? Any silly habits or funny things they do?8
Trying || to stick to a schedule. Having a newborn is tough when they’re supposed to eat every two hours. Try keeping up with that while also making sure the other two are entertained and have what they need, as well as pumping a couple of extra times a day to keep my supply up? Bordering on impossible. To heck with laundry and dishes. Yikes.
We spent today bopping around town, carrying kids to and fro, shopping for this and getting ready for that. Our house is a madhouse, like it often is these days. I don’t mind – really, I don’t. I know that it’s a season, and that things will return to a semi-normal. I know that my kids will be these ages but once. I know that my niece and nephew (who I also got to see this evening!) will be these ages but once.
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