Hi there.....

Yes, I am still here.  Barely.  I haven't even logged onto our blog since the last time I posted (which I see was almost exactly a month ago....how sad).  I'm completely out of the loop since I haven't read any blogs in the last month, and I hardly have time to even compose an email (let alone make a phone call).  It feels like I'm stuck a hundred feet under the ground alone with my three crazy kids, while the rest of the world is up there having fun this Christmas season, going to parties and cookie exchanges and weddings (Dean and I had to miss one of these earlier this month because what in the world would we have done with all of them- especially Molly- while we drove across town for a wedding??).  

I think I'm just realizing how tough it is with three kids.  At least OUR three kids!  Grant has been throwing fits and acting so defiant and sassy (although the last two days have been surprisingly better) that I really just don't want to go anywhere with him.  Drew is overall much easier but still has his two-year-old moments.  And Molly has been incredibly fussy.  She also seems to be getting a little better, but I spend so much of my day bouncing her in my arms (which makes it hard to get anything done around the house).  So I have a perpetually cluttered house and I'm always so far behind on chores (I'm trying not to let this bother me, knowing that someday I'll have a lot of time to clean my house, but my kids will only be young once).  And I still haven't even finished decorating Molly's room, but that's just about the last thing on my to-do list right now!

We've been having fun too (I get in the habit of writing blog posts after I've just had a couple of bad days!), and all the kids are doing really cute things right now.  Molly is 2.5 months old and doesn't look like a newborn anymore.  She coos and smiles a lot (for about 20 minutes after she eats, until she gets fussy again!).  She looks around a lot and she holds her head up fairly well, but still has a bit of that bobblehead.  Drew is stringing together some long sentences now......yesterday he and Grant were sliding down the stairs headfirst, and he said, "Deh [Grant]: me fall way down here" while he pointed to the bottom of the stairs.  He's been a late talker, so it's fun to see him finally start putting sentences together.  He's also Grant's little echo....he thinks he's a big boy when he says the same things that his big brother says.

I really am going to try to get back on track with blogging again in the new year.  No promises, but hopefully I can get Molly into a good routine and actually start having some time to myself again!  Merry Christmas!

FOUR

 My big boy turned four last week!  He's been excited about his birthday and has been asking about it since Drew's birthday in September.  On Thursday when we woke up, I asked if he knew what today was.....and he said, "I don't know" (even though we had been talking about it all week).  I told him, "it's your birthday today."  A smile came across his face and he asked, "how did you know that?" 

He actually didn't have a stellar birthday this year- we told him that four-year-olds aren't allowed to throw fits anymore, but apparently he doesn't understand that yet.  The actual day of his birthday wasn't much fun for him.....and he didn't get to go out for dinner or open his presents from us like we were planning (I didn't want to reward his bad behavior by giving him presents to open!).  So we did it the next day instead, after he behaved a bit better. 

I've heard that age four is kind of the *magic* age where kids all of a sudden start behaving better, and I certainly hope this is the case with him!  I think he's definitely acting better (in general) than he was a year ago, but we still have plenty of episodes where we just have to send him to his room to calm down.  He's a feisty, strong-willed little boy, and I know that some of that will never disappear.

Some things about Grant at age four:

- He's totally into make-believe now.  Characters in hand (either Toy Story figures, or pirates, or knights), he'll walk around pretending they're talking to each other and fighting with each other, and creating dialog between them.  Sometimes I try to peek and watch what he's doing, but he gets a little embarrassed if he knows he's being watched.

- He uses the word "poopy" regularly to describe things (we're trying to break him of this).  Whenever "poopy" is thrown into a phrase, Drew copies him and they both laugh and laugh!  His potty language is rubbing off on Drew and they both think it's so silly!

- He's very fashion-conscious.....something I never would have expected from my four-year-old little boy.  He definitely has an idea of which clothes are cool and which aren't.  The problem is that a couple of his "cool" shirts are WAY too big for him, and shouldn't be worn in public.  So I just have to be firm with him and basically not give him a choice of what he can wear.  Yesterday he told me "Mommy, I like your shirt.  If I was a mommy, I would wear that shirt."  Then later he told me, "Mommy, I like your purse."  I guess I won't worry unless he's still doing this when he's fifteen!

- He and Drew are either great friends or worst enemies, depending on the minute.  Grant always says, "come on, Drew!" and they run off to play together.  And when they're in silly moods (like after baths), they are so much fun to watch.  But sometimes Grant likes to think that he's Drew's parent, and this can get frustrating.  If Drew misbehaves, Grant will say, "okay, I guess you're going to have to go to your room" or "okay, Drew, now you have to get a spankin."  And then Drew apparently believes that Grant has the authority to make these decisions, because he starts crying and says, "no! no!" 

 - He's very affectionate towards his baby sister, and protective of her.  He'll say, "I love having a baby sister," or "I love Molly.  I'm so glad I have a baby sister."  Today he told me, "when Molly's bigger and bigger like me, I'll let her wear my shirts." 

 He loves school, and always asks, "is it a school day?  Am I going to Ms. Tammy and Ms. Shelia's class?"  (On days I go to Bible study, he goes to a different class that he doesn't enjoy as much).  He apparently obeys really well....his teachers say that they love having him.  Thankfully he seems to save all of his fits for us!

 - Just about a month ago, he learned how to pump himself on his big boy swing (it's the swing behind Drew in the picture above).  He's so proud of himself.....and it's nice for me because now he can entertain himself when we go outside.

 - He'll wave and say hello to a stranger (without them saying anything first), but he's very shy around adults that he knows.  This is really hard for me because I'm afraid it makes people think we don't teach him any manners.  Almost any time one of my friends asks him a question, he'll just put his head down and stare at the floor.  I have to constantly prompt him to answer their questions.  I'm not sure what to do about this.  He knows how to be polite..... but just seems to forget when someone starts talking to him.

Grant, future La Leche League member

Grant has been saying some funny things lately.  One that I've been meaning to share on the blog happened one day last week.  The boys were playing in the backyard and I brought Molly outside to feed her.  Grant asked, "can I watch you feed Molly?  That's so cute.  When you feed the baby, it's so beautiful."

It's funny because of the two boys, Drew is definitely the most affectionate towards Molly.  He constantly wants to give her kisses and hugs, while Grant basically ignored his little brother when he was born (he does love Molly and gives her a lot more attention than he gave Drew as a baby).  But even though their personalities are totally different, Grant has his gentle side that we see every once in a while!

Things have gotten a little bit harder.....Molly was super fussy last week.  Basically, if she was awake (and not eating), she was upset.  I think no matter how many newborns you've had, you never really figure them out.  So it's hard to know what to do with her when she's upset and nothing seems to work.  She's been spitting up a lot, so I wonder if it could be reflux?  My other thought was colic.  But she doesn't seem to be quite as extreme as the descriptions of colic I've read on the internet- we've definitely never had any three-hour nonstop crying episodes.  Thankfully she still sleeps a lot....and she can't be fussy while she's asleep!

Still, it's been hard keeping up with laundry and other things when I'm dealing with a fussy baby and two crazy boys.  I don't feel completely overwhelmed all the time, but I definitely get behind on chores.  And it drives me crazy to walk around and see all the clutter around the house......and the laundry that needs to be done....and the furniture that has dust caked on it....and not have the free hands to do anything about it!  I have to remind myself that this is just a stage, and I need to spend time enjoying my kids.....not making sure my house is always immaculate. 

The boys go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we've mostly spent every other day here at home.  Before Molly was born, I had to get out of the house with the boys every day or I'd go crazy.  But it's really crazy taking them all out with me.  So we usually do that once per week, and spend the rest of the time at home.  I enjoy my coffee in the morning and the boys spend a lot of time in the backyard!  Ideally, I'd think of lots of fun activities for the boys to do.  But I haven't really figured this out yet.....it's hard thinking of things that both boys are old enough to enjoy and that won't create huge messes.  So for now, they mostly just play with their toys, chase each other around the house, get into fights, and watch more tv than they should!  :)

Halloween, etc.

First, Drew was going to be a robot and Grant was going to be Iron Man:

But it was actually fairly warm on Halloween, and I had completely forgotten about the Superman costume that Grant wore two years ago (passed down to us from Grant's friend Andrew).  Drew started taking his robot costume off on Halloween afternoon because it was getting hot, so I went upstairs to grab the Superman costume.  Much better! 

 

We went to the fall festival at the church where the boys go to school.  It was CRAZY!  But the boys had fun playing with their friends Josh and Will.  Then we came home and went trick-or-treating on our street.  At one house, a lady came to the door wearing a scary mask.....Drew took one look at her, started crying, and turned around and walked away.  He was also scared whenever a dog came to the door, even if it was a tiny little thing.  But while we were out, we saw so many older, teenage kids also trick-or-treating in groups, and it makes me realize that my little boys are going to grow up fast!

The three kiddos:

Some other pictures of Molly from last week:

Here's her little smile that I mentioned in the last post.  She will be a month old tomorrow!

Three weeks

Molly is three weeks old already, and I made it through my first full week on my own with all the kids.  And I haven't gone crazy yet!  :)  Things are pretty good, actually.  Molly still sleeps quite a bit during the day (although that's starting to change....she's growing out of that newborn stage where she'll sleep through anything, anytime).  The boys have been fairly good little helpers (especially Drew) and they still love their sister.  Grant often tells me, "I love Molly" or "I love my baby sister."  He'll go sit next to her and tell me that he's watching over her, and today he told me to take a picture of them together!  And Grant is doing well with his cast.....he runs around like crazy and you almost forget that he's even wearing it.

I've gone out a couple of times in public with all three kids.  Once we went to Target, where Molly slept the entire trip in the Baby Bjorn and the boys rode in the shopping cart.  Then a few days later, I took them all to Hobby Lobby (the boys had taken short naps and I knew I had to get out of the house or it was going to be a hard afternoon!).  I spent probably 8-10 minutes in the parking lot, getting them arranged in their stroller and Molly in her Baby Bjorn.  Then within about two minutes of walking inside, she started fussing and didn't stop.  So it was a very short trip.....but I guess that's what I expect at this point.  I don't want to take them all out by myself every day, but at least now I know that it's possible!

Molly had her two-week checkup last Tuesday.  She is obviously eating well, because she weighed 8lbs 9oz (almost an entire pound more than she did at birth).  I'm assuming she weighs about 9 pounds now.  I think she definitely feels a lot bigger, and I think her face has changed a lot too.  And today I am certain that she smiled at me.....on purpose!  I know she's only a day over three weeks and she's not supposed to be able to do that yet, but she must be really advanced for her age.  :)   Her newborn clothes are getting tight, but all of her 3-month outfits are huge on her.

And speaking of clothes, I am in the same position.  Everyone tells me, "you don't look like you just had a baby" and "you already went back to your normal weight, didn't you?"  This is flattering, but no!  I still weigh 18-20 pounds more than I did before I was pregnant.  So most of my old shirts are fine, but I can't even fit into my largest pre-pregnancy pants or skirts.  So finding clothes for church is difficult!  I don't know what I'm going to do now that we're actually starting to have a few cool days here and there.  I only have one pair of maternity jeans!

Here are some pictures taken around Oct 20, while my mom was in town for a few days.  I'll try posting some more recent pictures sometime in the next few days.  Even though Molly sleeps a lot, I  feel like I have much less free time than before.  Maybe because she's often awake while the boys are napping.  Anyway, I hope to start blogging more regularly again soon, so stay tuned!

 While the boys were in school one day, my mom mopped our kitchen floor for me (thank you, Mom!) and I took Molly to her room to take some pictures.  In the second one, you can see that she decided she didn't care much for the tutu!

This particular night while my mom was here, Molly had her longest awake stretch yet: from about 6:45pm until after 9pm.  She just sat in my mom's arms and looked around for probably 45 minutes.  It was so sweet!

 

The boys rocked Kitty and Ruff in the swing one morning: