Wild Man

This boy is 18 months old (actually he's almost 19 now but this post was written around the 18 month mark). He weighs 26 lbs (50%) and is 33 1/4" (80%). His head circumference is off the charts at 20 1/4", just like his sister. They're both taking after their daddy's big noggin.
He is picking up new words everyday and pretty much will repeat any word you say. He calls shoes, socks, and toes, feet. He loves shoes, any time he finds shoes he will attempt to put them on. He calls Abby, Babby. This is usually the first thing he says in the morning. Once I change his diaper he is off to find his sister and give her a hug. This makes my heart happy. I hope this bond continues to strengthen as they grow. We have been working on animal sounds but he loves to growl and he thinks pretty much all animals should growl except the cow. He can sound off a pretty good moo.
Isaac has a great personality and is such a sweet happy boy. He's a little flirt and is perfecting his smile to instantly wrap anyone around his little finger. On a few occasions he has scored smiles from some grumping looking people at Walmart.
To say this boy is extremely active would be an understatement, he is always on the move exploring every nook and cranny. I can't take my eyes of him.
Here are a few pictures of my big boy.




Our freak snow storm in May and cold weather spells have led us to playing in the garage to help get some energy out.




A happy boy enjoying a sweet treat.




He is working on self feeding and is doing a decent job. This picture shows what happens if I don't take away the bowl when he's done.




Playing with his best friend at Crystal Bridges Museum, they have a fantastic kids area .
-Peggy

Life's sweet moments

What a treat to watch my princess perform a dance for me why I snuggle with this sweet bundle.



In the middle of the dance though Abby stopped and said, "Wait Rapunzel doesn't have a wand." After a quick trip to the play kitchen she was ready to continue her dance.

Life is good!

-Peggy

One month!

Reese is one month old. She weighs 9 lbs 1 oz., weight was taken at the doctors office because we had a rash on her face and neck checked out. Was diagnosed as just a heat rash. She is such a sweet mellow girl and still is a sleepy baby. The only time she really fusses is when she ready to eat or has gas pains. She luckily is usually able to resolve that problem fairly quickly.

Sleep- already she seems to be getting into a pretty good sleep pattern. She will nurse around 8-9 and then again around 11-midnight. After that she'll usually do a long sleep stretch till 4 or 5. Of course there are the random nights this all goes out the window and we don't get much sleep. But for the most part we don't feel as sleep deprived as we did with Abby or Isaac at this stage (especially with Isaac, who was colicky for about a month) . It may be that she's a better sleeper than the other two or I wonder if we are getting used to having broken nights of sleep. I did not sleep well at all during most of the pregnancy. Thankfully I am sleeping better now, and when Reese gives us those longer stretches I'm able to take advantage of them. Fingers crossed this continues.

Siblings- Abby continues to be a wonderful big sister. She loves getting to hold Reese. Abby is very on top of protecting her sister, any time someone wants to hold or see Reese, Abby is there to inform them that they need to wash their hands first, think she has heard that from someone? :-)

Isaac is also very interested in his sister. He calls her Re or ReRe. Her feet are what he is most fascinated about. Anytime he has the chance he will try to take off her socks so he can see her feet.

Slowly but surely we are getting into a routine with three kids, we might be a bit of a three ring circus right now, but we are surviving!

Below are some other fun shots of Ms. Reese:






-Peggy

Sewing- Knot Tie Dress

When looking through some local boutique stores for outfits for the kids' pictures I found some really cute dresses, but I was blown away by the prices. I have a hard time spending $40-$60+ dollars on a top or dress for myself, so there was no way that I could reason spending that much on an outfit that will quickly be outgrown. Plus many of the outfits I think I can make myself, the problem is finding time.

After a trip to the fabric store I found a pattern for a knot tie dress that looked pretty simple. I bought the pattern and fabric at Joanne's, thanks to the $.99 pattern sale and some coupons, I was able to get all the necessary materials for around $15 dollars.

For the past several weeks when I had a spare moment or two I would work on the dress. Really this dress is quite simple and could be made in an afternoon, not that I'll have one to spare any time in the near future so my projects will just take a bit longer.



Here is the top of the dress. I added the strip of fabric and ribbon to give the top extra detail, it looked too plain without it. I also like how it connects the bottom of the dress to the top.



The almost finished product, I just needed to add button holes.



Here, my active 4 year old models the final product.

The plan now is to make some matching pants using the same fabric for Reese. Maybe in a month or two I will accomplish this goal!

-Peggy

Two Week Check Up

This sweet girl had her two week check up yesterday. She is a sleepy baby. For most feelings I need to wake her up, so I was a bit concerned if she was gaining weight like she should. As most newborn mothers I was finding something to stress about when there was no need. She is up to 8 lbs 3 oz, past her birth weight of 7 lbs 8 oz which they like to see the baby be back to at this point. Very thankful to have a good check up.

Reese continues to be a sweet mellow baby. For the most part she is a good sleeper and is a fantastic nurser. She has times when she has gas pains, so hard to see her uncomfortable. But I usually can get her to calm down by holding her, I of course don't mind sweet cuddles.

Abby and Isaac, for the most part, have adjusted to their sister. This is in large part to the wonderful friends and family that have helped Grant and I out by helping keep the older two on their normal schedules. Abby has still attended weekly story time at the library with Ms. Erin. Which is always a highlight for her. While Isaac has enjoyed a good amount of outside play time and bookworms story time, which he absolutely loves. Making sure they have their special activities, I believe, has really helped them in adjusting to the changes of bringing home a new baby. It lets them know that although things have changed they still are important and will continue to have their special activities. Once Reese is a bit older and we feel comfortable bringing her out of the house more I look forward to being able to bring Abby and Isaac to their activities.

I just need to build myself up to be brave enough to venture out with all three on my own.

Until I'm at that point we'll probably just stick around the house doing fun activities like playing in the back yard and painting.









-Peggy

Table of Four Adds One More

At 9:28 am, March 24th, we became a family of five. After 22 hours of labor (our longest of the three kids) we found out that our family would be complete with the addition of another girl. Reese Elizabeth weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz, and was 19 1/4" long. We are so thankful for a healthy girl. As my brother stated so well, "Poor Isaac has no idea what he's in for with two sisters."

A week out both Reese and I are doing great. Abby and Isaac have adjusted well with having a new sister in the house. Abby is thrilled that she was correct about her prediction of a baby sister and is enjoying loving on Reese. Isaac has accepted her as part of the pack and pretty much ignores her as he stays busy exploring the world.


















-Peggy

23 Weeks

So here I find myself 23 1/2 weeks pregnant. That’s right if you only know me through this blog that I’ve faithfully posted several times a week, or not, this is news to you.  When Isaac was around 9 months old we discovered we would be upping the excitement in our already busy lives!  After getting over the initial shock that we would have two kids 17 months apart, three kids 4 and under, we became excited that our family would soon be complete as a family of five! 

I'm over half way over with this pregnancy it has of course flown by.  Being busy keeping up with a happy three year old and an adventuresome toddler hasn’t allowed much time to sit and daydream about this pregnancy.  I’m glad to report that for the most part this pregnancy has gone very smoothly.  Morning sickness lasted entirely way to long, till around 18 weeks along, yuck. The other symptom I’ve struggled with is extreme fatigue.  Keeping up with both kids, having two pregnancies close together, and not sleeping well at night might have something to do with it. I, just like the kids, are in good need of a daily nap. 

At 23 weeks I am enjoying the sweet movements of Baby L. The gender remains a surprise, we are waiting to find out at the birth.  I’m enjoying having this extra bit of excitement with this pregnancy.  Abby is convinced she is getting a little sister and has been telling everyone her sister is in mommy’s belly.  We have had many talks about how it could be a boy, so her story is now, “I know a boy could come out, but my baby sister is in my mom’s belly.” What do you think? Come March we will find out!

Right after Thanksgiving my belly has popped out, wonder if this has any connection with the feast we enjoyed at the house? I am mostly wearing maternity clothing now.  I think a large part of my wardrobe will be leggings and boots.  The wonderful thing about boots is I don’t need to worry about my pants being long enough, a constant problem I encounter on a normal day, an impossible task when dealing with maternity clothing!

Here is a belly picture at 23 weeks and a few favorites from this fall to catch you up with what we have been doing.

We enjoyed several baseball games this summer. We love have a AAA team in Springdale!

A happy boy enjoying the beach on our trip we took to Florida in September.  He kept us on our toes as he attempted and sometimes succeeded at eating handfuls of sand.

One of our several Sunrise walks.  Grant was such a trooper and joined me on one of my favorite things to do when at the beach several mornings.

An attempt at a family beach picture. Sadly, this was one of the best.

Playing in the water with clothes on, what fun!

We got to enjoy a very special day at the Magic Kingdom!

This was the hit of the trip, a character breakfast.  Mickey, Minnie, and their friends stopped by our table as we ate breakfast. Abby was SO EXCITED!

This silly boy is into anything and everything and already has such a fun personality.  He definitely knows how to ham it up!

And here is a belly shot of me at 23 weeks. Why is it that these pictures always look so awkward?