A typical day--newborn style

Well, kiddos, while there's nothing typical about life with a newborn (no offense, Abby), I decided to write about what our days are like these days. Before I begin, know that our days aren't typical in that Daddy is home with us these days and was for the past week and will be for most of next week, too. But we are adjusting to our new life together and have some "typical" activities that we engage in these days. Anyway, our "days" begin around 6:30 or 7AM (if we're lucky) with Matthew either crying and waking us up or Sam coming into our room when his clock turns yellow. Usually, Abby is asleep in the morning after eating around 5 or 6 AM (after one or two other nighttime feedings), so the boys are the ones who wake us up.

Generally, I sleep with Abby for awhile, while Daddy helps the boys get changed and then goes downstairs to start breakfast. Sometimes Daddy stays with Abby for awhile and I get the boys ready. When Daddy does breakfast it's usually cereal. When Mommy does breakfast it's something like wheat waffles or coffee cake muffins (which the boys helped make this morning). Surprisingly, I often have enough energy to make breakfast if given the opportunity.

We have breakfast and whichever parent was with Abby emerges around 7:30 or 8AM usually. Then we switch off parenting duties and one parent watches the kids while the other showers or changes or just gets semi-presentable for the day. Mid-morning is when we go somewhere if we go anywhere. Yesterday the kids and I went to Target and Jason went to church. This morning we went to the church Bazaar. We also made it to the Y one morning this week. Other days we stay at home.

Sometimes I just can't remember how we pass our time other than the mornings go by quickly and then it's lunch time. Abby usually takes a good 2+ hour morning nap after being awake from around 7:30 or 8 until 9 or 10. Then, I usually feed Abby around lunch time while Jason prepares lunch. Today the boys had toast for lunch and Jason and I didn't eat. We then switched parenting duties and Jason cared for Abby while I took Sam and Matthew upstairs for naps. Jason and Abby napped, while I worked around the house. Sometimes I nap with Abby and Jason works around the house or runs errands.

After naps, we have been playing outside a lot or going for walks. Sometimes the kids play in the basement. At 5PM we watch the Berenstein Bears and prep dinner (which either comes from generous friends or our freezer). Dinner is around 5:30 or 6, then we play some more and get the boys ready for bed around 7 (meaning we start tidying up, take baths, put on PJs, etc). Matthew goes to bed around 7:30, Sam around 8 and Abby, well, whenever she nods off for the evening. If we're lucky Abby sleeps around 8 or 9, if we're unlucky, Abby doesn't sleep until later and instead has crying spells for an hour or so. Jason and I go to bed around 9:30 or 10 and either Jason holds Abby and rests on the couch for the first part of the night (until midnight or 2AM) or I take Abby and sleep with her all night. Sometime soon Abby will sleep on her own (and she does occasionally), but she's quite comfy in the crook of my arm or on Jason's chest, so there she sleeps for now.

There you have it. Our lives are rather mundane these days although they are very exhausting and long.  Boys, you seem to be doing well. You read lots of books, dance often when you hear music on the TV or radio and play with cars and trains and paint and color. I'm amazed when I look at the house at the end of the day that it's really in pretty good order. I also know that a lot of that is due to Jason being home as there are two of us to keep up with the messiness of small children. Anyway, sometime when life becomes more ordered I will write more about our typical days (as "typical" changes frequently with small children), but for now, you have an idea of what we do.

Happy Halloween!

 Sorry for the two day delay in writing about our Halloween, but that's just how things go these days. Anyway, after thinking we wouldn't do anything for Halloween and stay in for the evening, we decided to get the boys dressed up and visit Grammy and Papa and go trick or treating on our street. The reasoning was that neither Sam or Matthew really understand what Halloween is and since we haven't talked about it or read books about it, neither was excited and looking forward to it. So we thought we'd just skip it this year. But then I thought about how it would be fun and the kids would be so cute, so Jason took Sam to a costume store after lunch on Monday (yes, it was Halloween day) and picked out a costume. Sam debated being a doctor, fire fighter or UPS man and he chose...UPS delivery man. He didn't consider the usual little kid characters opting for more pragmatic career-oriented costumes. 

Matthew dressed as a walrus which was Sam's costume from last year. No, I didn't have my heart set on my kids being walruses for Halloween, but when you shop at Marshalls a few days before Halloween your costume selection is rather limited. Anyway, the walrus costume is actually really good quality and was cheap and the kids are so cute dressed as a walrus. Abby will probably wear the walrus in two years as it should fit her at about that time.  This year, though, Abby went as herself. She's cute enough as a newborn.

Sam wore his uniform as soon as he got up from nap and when we went out to play outside for a bit he was wearing his UPS uniform and screaming around the driveway on his trike with a brown package under his arm. I ran inside to get the camera to get a picture of him with his UPS trike, but when I returned he had moved on to snack. We got Matthew into the walrus with much crying and protesting. He especially did not like to put the hood on with the walrus teeth as can be seen from the picture. Oh well, he was still a cute walrus.

After visiting Grammy and Papa we went to some of our neighbors for trick or treating. Most people said we were there only visitors for the evening, which wasn't surprising since there are just a handful of kids in our neighborhood and I'm sure the older ones probably went to other more trick-or-treating friendly neighborhoods with more houses closer together. Since the kids were the only visitors at most houses, our neighbors were very generous with giving out candy. Some put handfuls of candy in the kids' bags and others let the kids pick out what they wanted. Matthew wasn't shy about grabbing fistfuls of candy. Sam would grab one piece, then the neighbor would tell him he could have more, so he'd grab another piece. They certainly had a different approach to getting candy.

All in all, it was a fun Halloween. The kids really got into it and enjoyed visiting the neighbors. Sam would generally approach the houses yelling, "trick or treat!" and then he'd ring the door bell and wait for someone to open the door. And we got a lot of candy from our neighbors which is quickly diminishing...those kids sure like their candy.

Update

Hi Kids, Well, Abby has been with us a week now and you all seem to have adjusted fairly well to each other. I really am surprised that you are doing so well, and Matthew, I actually feel a little sad that you aren't struggling more with not having as much mommy-time as you are used to. I guess you are more resilient that I thought and a lot more independent. Although I know you are very independent as you frequently go off by yourself when we play outside and find other things to do--you blaze your own trail and do as you please. I have a feeling that may cause some contention down the road, but for now it's an interesting trait.

Abby, you are an excellent baby. You cry when you need to eat, when you are gassy or just when you want to be held, but you are really quite good. You sleep all night, waking only twice for eating and go right back to sleep. Granted, we haven't figured out your sleeping "formula" yet and you mostly sleep in my or Daddy's arms. By formula, I mean that we haven't figured out what gets you to sleep and stay asleep for a good few hours. For Sam, the formula was: swaddle + pacifier + swing = sleep 4 hours. For Matthew it took us a long time to find a formula, but eventually we realized that if we put you to bed right as soon as you started to show signs of tiredness, you would sleep. We didn't even have to have much of a routine, other than give you a pacifier. It was the time window that mattered most. And the time window was usually between 5:30 and 6:30 PM.


Abby, we don't have a formula for you although we've only had you for a week, so it's understandable that we haven't figured you out yet and also, you are just a newborn, so maybe there is no formula to be found at this early stage of life. Anyway, you don't care for pacifiers and the other night, Daddy was extremely frustrated and said, "She hates the pacifier!" You don't seem to care for the swing and don't really like to be swaddled. Hmmm... I don't have any other tricks in my arsenal. You like to be held against the chest, so Daddy or I usually just hold you on our chests and doze as best we can throughout the night. It works, for now. I have a feeling your formula might involve thumb sucking as you seem to have found your thumb an amazing number of times during your first week of life.

In closing I have to include a story about Sam's bedtime tonight. I was feeding Abby and Jason took Sam up to bed. They went up the stairs, then a few moments later Sam started yelling down the stairs, "Hey everybody! Daddy didn't brush my teeth!" Then it was quiet and I assume the bedtime rountine went on as normal. When Jason got downstairs I asked him what happened and he said that Sam asked about brushing his teeth and Jason told him something like, "Oh, we don't need to tonight" and then Sam ran to the top of the stairs to tattle. There are no secrets in our house these days. Love you lots, Mom

Welcome Abby!

Hi Kiddos, Well, now there are three of you. Abby was born yesterday, Oct. 19, 2011. After a few days of fruitless contractions, when they started up again early yesterday morning, I pretty much ignored them. I got dressed to go to the Y, told Jason to go to work and then suddenly, around 7:15AM or so, realized this was the real deal and we needed to go to the hospital ASAP. We arrived at the hospital a little after 8AM and Abby arrived (via waterbirth) at 10:48AM. Daddy broke a few traffic laws on the way to the hospital, but we still made it with plenty of time. Sam, you seem very excited about having a baby around. You frequently come over to the baby, touch her, kiss her, bring her toys and just look at her while saying things like, "Ahhh, look at her eyes!" "Ahh, how cute!". You've said many other cute things over the past day and a half about your new sister, but I can't remember them. Matthew, you are a bit more skeptical about the baby. You point at her often and say, "Baby!" and tried saying goodnight to her tonight, but she didn't wave back. You waved and waved, but got no response. 

Abby, other than being a girl, you seem much different from your brothers. For one, you have a lot of hair and dark hair! I was quite surprised at your hair and didn't want to put on your hat much during our stay at the hospital so I could look at your unruly dark hair. You also seem to have a darker complexion, but I can't remember what your brothers were like at birth, so maybe it's just the hair throwing me off. I'm sure other differences will emerge over the years, but those are the ones that stand out now.

In the picture, Sam you had swaddled a baby doll we have (I bought it a few weeks ago in preparation for your sister's arrival) and were cuddling with your baby doll as Daddy was cuddling Abby. Welcome to our new life together as a family of five. Love, Mom

Fall is here!

Hi Kiddos, Well it's been much too long since I've written anything. I guess I'm a little distracted these days and also tired, so I just haven't sat down to write anything lately and I don't think things will get much better in the coming days, weeks and months, but we'll see.

Fall is officially here! After a weird September and strange start to October, it is finally cool and time to do some fall yard cleaning. Sam, you especially like to rake. So much so that we had to buy another rake so that you, Daddy and I could all have one. I tried using yours a few times (when you stopped raking and were diverted by playing) but you would have none of it. So we bought another. Not a kiddie rake, no, when asked if you wanted a kid-sized rake at Menards the other day, you said no, we already had a rake for you at home, which is a full-sized rake. Matthew, you also enjoy raking, although not to the extent that Sam does and I'm afraid the rake is a little unwieldy for you at this time. You will have to grow into it. Both of you love running, jumping, falling and flailing around in the piles of leaves. This makes for somewhat of a mess and involves much re-raking for whoever is actually doing the raking (generally Daddy), but it also makes for a much more enjoyable time raking. And when Daddy loads the leaves onto the tarp to load into the back of the truck, the real fun begins. You kids get to ride around the yard on the tarp while Daddy pulls you and the leaves to the truck. I can't believe how happy this makes you two, but it sure is fun to watch.

Today, Daddy even threw you two (one at a time) into the leaf pile, much to your enjoyment. Sam, although you are usually one to stay away from risks, you loved being thrown into the leaves. Matthew, on the other hand, although you are usually one to take risks, you didn't really enjoy being thrown into the leaves. Interesting how that worked out today. Anyway, we've had some happy fall days this past week.

Here you two are playing in the leaves from last weekend (notice the shorts and t-shirts...it was quite warm!)

 And here you are enjoying a ride on the tarp...

And this is from today...leaf raking and throwing...(notice the change in attire...it was much cooler today.)

Happy Fall! Love you lots, Mom

Matthew sees the moon

Hi Matthew, last Friday we were at Grammy and Papa's house to celebrate your cousin Josh's birthday. Since there were lots of evening festivities going on, you ended up staying up later than usual which meant that you were awake when it got dark outside. Which also meant that you got to see the moon. It started after Josh opened his birthday presents and someone pointed out the moon outside. You got very excited about it and would regularly interrupt your playing and running around to go to the window and see the moon, excitedly exclaiming "Moon! Moon!" while pointing and waiting for other people to acknowledge your finding. We eventually headed home and the car ride consisted of you saying, "Car, car, car, moon, moon" over and over and over. And we did see lots of cars on the way home, although we couldn't see the moon so I can only assume you were looking for it.

When we got home you again looked for the moon. We went from window to window looking for it and you would ask, "Moon go?" with your palms upturned as you usually do when seeking something. Unfortunately we couldn't see it as it was hidden behind some trees. It was a disappointing way to end a happy evening of seeing the moon. Jason estimates that you must have said "moon" at least 100 times that night and I don't think his estimate is too far off. I was pondering your fixation on the moon later that night after you went to bed, I realized that you had never seen the moon before and had realized that it was actually something real, and not just something that we read about in "Goodnight Moon" and other books. If only we could all be so amazed at something as seemingly simple as the moon.

On Sunday afternoon we were playing outside and again you spotted the moon. It's crescent could be seen in the afternoon sky and you were very excited at it's appearance. We couldn't hardly get you to come inside you just wanted to point and look at the moon and excitedly say, "Moon!" It really made for a fun afternoon and it's neat how something so simple can bring our family so much joy. I love to see how much you love the moon. Well, goodnight and sleep tight. Love, Mom

Sam's Party

Hi Sam, when I was looking through the pictures that we took after the photo shoot on Saturday, I realized I hadn't written anything about your birthday party. Well, it was on Sept. 25 and lots of family came. You were very excited for your party and presents and cake. Uncle Brian brought some helium balloons which you loved.

 You got lots of other great presents including puzzles, games, books, clothes, and of course, cars and trucks. This year you opened all your presents before playing with them (for the most part) unlike last year, where you opened a gift and immediately wanted to play with just that gift. We've read every book you received many times over the past week or so, played with your games and put together puzzles frequently. Matthew has also tried to enjoy your gifts, although he too received some nice gifts for your birthday. Yes, Matthew got some presents too and you have some very nice family. I don't really expect you too much to share your presents, but I do let Matthew try them out if you're occupied with other toys. Sharing isn't a really strong part of who you are right now, but you're getting better and at least more tolerant of Matthew's desire to play with your stuff, and he's also getting used to hearing, "No, that's Sam's" so he leaves some of your stuff alone.

Your cake was a Cars cake that I put together. You picked out the design and enjoyed the singing. You blew out one candle and didn't want to attempt the other two, despite much prodding, so to get things moving along (Matthew was getting impatient for cake) I blew out the other candles. And then both you and Matthew ate cake, well, I guess you just ate frosting. You even picked out the layer of frosting between the two cake layers and your plate was a heap of chocolate when you were finished. After I said you couldn't have any more frosting you tried the cake and realized it was pretty good too, so then you ate the cake. 

We had a lot of fun and I can't hardly believe we've been blessed to have you for three years. I wish I could remember how far you've come over the last year, but you change and grow so quickly. Happy Birthday, kiddo. Love, Mom