Baby Hugs

Regan has started giving me baby hugs, the kind where she tightly wraps both of her arms around my neck...so tender. She is just my little honey! When I snapped these shots I swear she knew I was taking her picture, and just kept right on smiling on queue.

Regan has started scooting in circles on her tummy, so I am sure she will be on the move soon.

My Princesses

Someday he'll kill me for posting this picture, but I just have too...

The other day I came out of Regan's room after changing her, and this is who I found in the hallway. It shocked me at first. Jake always wants to play so rough. Things like crocodile, pirates, knights, tiger, etc. I have never seen Jake wear one of Sydney's dresses, he is usually the pirate, the prince, the hero...

They were both fully decked out with matching shoes and wands! Love it :)

He saw his neighbor friends playing outside, and quickly got out of the Belle dress. He said he didn't want Jack and Nick to see him.

Multi-Tasking Sydney

When Sydney is quietly playing, she is usually NOT into trouble, unlike most quiet kids.

Yesterday I was looking for her after lunch. This is how I found her. She had taken off her outfit, but left on her underwear and tank top. When I asked her what she was doing, she looked at me like I was stupid and explained she was talking on her phone to her cousin Kylie, and making me "balls" for lunch (stirring while talking I might add). Like I was supposed to know...

The thing that struck me the funniest about finding her like this, is that she was completely multi-tasking at the young age of 3.

A Tragic Story

I recently reconnected with a childhood friend via Facebook. (LOVE this, although it can get a little addicting, check it out www.facebook.com) And she mentioned that she was missing a close friend, and included a web address. So, I checked out the site. Wow, and it didn't take long for the tears to flow. It turns out her close friend Liz had passed away. It is tragic story, and very touching. I can't stop thinking about this family and the sadness that is surrounding them. If you want to read about it, go to www.mattlogelin.com. One forgets how things can go wrong...

It is an incredible reminder just how precious life is.

Being that I've been through the process of delivering three babies into this world it really hit home for me. When Sydney was born we had a scare post-partum in the hospital. She was born at 4am, all went fine. (Just two pushes) We laid down to rest, because we had been up all night in labor. I woke up at 6:30am, my bed was soaked in red...I mean soaked! I pushed the button for the nurse. I remember them saying my blood pressure was 80/40, I couldn't hear and was extremely light-headed. When I heard them say my blood pressure, I knew something wasn't right. I remember the nurses panicing, and trying to get an ice bath ready ASAP. Apparently, I had lost a tremedous amount of blood. They later determined it happened because my full bladder was pressing upon my uterus, causing the bleeding. The huge ordeal was VERY scary. It reminds me how blessed I am to be here today enjoying my family.

Living & Loving Today

As I mentioned, I've had one of those weeks....
My friend Allisun had this on her blog, it SOO touched me, and I wanted to share it.

Anna Quindlen, Newsweek Columnist and Author:

All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast. Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like. Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves. Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernible except through the unreliable haze of the past.

Everything in all the books I once pored over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, have all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories.

What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations --what they taught me, was that they couldn't really teach me very much at all.

Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything. One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout.

One child is toilet trained at 3, his sibling at 2. When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome. To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow.

I remember 15 years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton's wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active. I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China . Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.

Every part of raising children is humbling, too.

Believe me, mistakes were made. They have all been enshrined in the, "Remember-When- Mom-Did" Hall of Fame. The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language, mine, not theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp. The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, "What did you get wrong?". (She insisted I include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald's drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.) I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?

But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them, sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night.

I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.

Even today I'm not sure what worked and what didn't, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I'd done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity. That's what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were.

Baby Nathaniel

This week has been kind of a blah week for a variety of reasons. The main reason is my friend Andrea, who is expecting her 3rd baby received some difficult news early this week. She is sharing her story at http://www.chasing2boys.blogspot.com/ . Please pray for Andrea and her family as they process this heart-breaking news.

Finally...

Hooray!! Spring has finally arrived. These last few days have been so great!!!

On Sunday we finally got the garage cleaned out, organized, and hooks/mounts hung up on the walls....3 years later. But, at least we got it done. We have a bit more to do on the south side of the garage.

We've all loved being outside. So far Jake has had "pet" worms, caterpillar, and a "night" worm. He has agreed with me that they all belong OUTSIDE!

Learning to Sew

My Godmother Connie came over yesterday. It was so nice to see her. She lives in Alexandria, so I don't get to see her very often. She took care of me and my sisters when were young kids, when my mom was sick. I feel fortunate to have her in my life.

She brought Sydney a beautiful quilt that she spent countless hours making. It is amazing, and I can't imagine how long she spent making it. Sydney loves it, and hasn't wanted to share it. Which is rare for Sydney, whom is nearly always willing to share whatever she has.

I've always wanted to know how to use my sewing machine. At least to do some basic stuff. It has been a hobbie on my bucket list. While Connie was here she showed me how to make these quick baby blankets. Before she came I went and picked out some cute fabric. I have a few friends that recently had boys, or will be soon, and of course there was NO cute boy fabrics to choose from. I settled on some cute girl fabrics. So, amidst Jake running around and Regan crying, Connie patiently walked me through the steps. I love it, and will definitely be making these for friends. They are lightweight, and can be used for anything. Here is what my masterpiece looked like :)

Thanks Connie!

Waterpark Adventure

On Saturday we surprised the kids with a trip to stay overnight at the Waterpark of America. They were so excited. Our room was neat, it had a cubbie area with bunk beds. Jake and Sydney loved that!! All three of them slept in this cubbie area, or should I say kind of slept....I didn't sleep well, either did Regan. But the idea of having a semi-private room for kids to sleep in quite ingenious, I wish more hotels did that.

The waterpark itself is huge! The kid area is fun, with lots to do. The chlorine is REALLY strong, my eyes were stinging by the end of the day on Sunday. But it didn't seem to bother the kids. Jake loved going down all the waterslides, he even was brave enough to go down the big tube slides with Dave. Sydney did not want to go down any waterslides, even the kiddie ones. Sydney hung out with Regan and me.

We'll go back there, but probably wait a few years until the kids are bigger.

Wild Child

This is what we woke up to today.... a nice, and sick April Fools Day.

By the afternoon, it was nearly gone.

Jake has been asking me for about a week to take him to get his haircut...it had gotten a little unruly lately. Jake's hair doesn't get long it gets BIG!! I took him to this new place called Wild Child. I have heard good things; has an air hockey table, a wii, and flat screens at all the chairs...so I wanted to check it out. So we get there, and he tells the hair stylist that he wants his hair to "stand up"...I think what he really wanted was to be able to style his hair just like his daddy's. Jacob has recently made sure he "puts his gel" in his hair each morning. (from his dad's cupboard) This is the "do" that we ended up with....Jacob was VERY pleased and informed me, " Dad is going to like my new hair style." Here he is showing off... :)