More Halloween Fun

Tonight was a blast! S agreed to have his face painted (something he wouldn't do earlier). Both kids looked SO adorable again tonight with their clown faces and cute orange and green hair. We put Baby J in his "I Love My Mummy" onesie. Everyone was set to go. We went to a church down the road and participated in their trunk or treat. The original plan was to go the town trunk or treat but the neighbors told of us this one which was much closer, about 1/2 mile from our house. It was way more fun than I anticipated. The kids enjoyed the chili and cornbread and then they trick-or-treated the trunks of a ton of vehicles and got oodles of candy. They also had a fun spooky house set up which Daddy Piper took them through. L took off and ran to the end, her daddy rushed S through to find her and she was at the exit with me :- ) Baby J snoozed his way through Halloween. It was a fun Halloween for everyone - relaxing and enjoyable, what a great combination!

Spooktacular Fun

We went to a spooky storytime at our local library this morning - FUN!!! The day started out with me getting the kids dressed in their clown costumes, painted L's face not S though because he didn't want his painted and then us running to the grocery store for some hair paint, which was on clearance thanks to my procrastination. We went out in the parking lot and painted both kids hair. It was one of those memories life is made of. Both kids getting their hair painted in a parking lot while Baby J snoozed away. I made sure to tease L's ringlets out to look more like a wig. Then we headed to the library. The kids looked ADORABLE! The storytime was fun. They had crafts to do afterwards, like pumpkin fishing, making a cat mask and making an Applejacks bracelet (which the kids ate after making it into a bracelet). It wasn't too packed and the kids enjoyed themselves. One little girl was scared of L because of her face paint. Baby J just slept away in his snugli - such a good baby he is!!! Now it's naptime which will be followed by more Halloween fun!

Remember this...

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Ephesians 5:15-17

Reality

So now my MIL has flown home, reality is upon us. No more visits from helpful family, no more meal delivery from wonderful friends.... it's all reality from here on out. And let me say how busy things are with 3 chitlens 4 and under. It's busy, very busy!

Today was fun. We went to storytime at our local library. We haven't done this in a long time. We met the K family there. L had fun - S was sad for part of it for some reason. There is singing and book reading and he was still sad for a spell. He did get better and enjoyed the ending with the bubbles. L seemed to have a grand time with the singing and storytelling and she enjoyed the bubbles too. Then we got to check out some books and a couple DVD's. Unfortunately, their DVD's don't work or our player is broken. We got done at library and loaded in the van (after giving K family some baby oil to get off their mangy tattoos and let the kids play around in the van for a bit). Daddy Piper had texted that he needed to run to PeterBilt to get a part he had been working on since yesterday. We came home and got him and drove an hour to get the part. While we were waiting in the van for him to get his part, Baby J needed to eat and while I was nursing him, S had to potty - AGH! So I took all 3 inside and handed off Baby J to Daddy Piper and took the other 2 potty. Very chaotic. The only good thing about this trip was the yummy lunch at In-N-Out on the way home. We got home in time to lay down for naps. Everyone went down pretty quickly. I had forgotten that a lady was stopping by to get a TS product and she came while I was napping. Daddy Piper tried to take care of it but ended up needing to wake me up. Oh well it was 4:00 by then. I got up and got her the product and then started waking the older 2 to carve a pumpkin finally. I bought a pumpkin a few days ago but this was our first chance to carve it. Daddy Piper had L draw a picture of what she wanted the pumpkin to look like and he transferred the drawing onto the pumpkin. The kids were so funny while carving it. It smelled sooooo bad when Daddy Piper took the top off and the smell was like stinky pooh. L held her nose while trying to help remove the innards and kept saying "disgusting" over and over. S wouldn't even attempt to help, just drove his bike all around the carving site. After the pumpkin was done, I wanted a picture of all 3 kids with the pumpkin. Well this was probably a sign of things to come - no good picture of all 3. At best, it's 2 out of 3 smiling - Baby J wanted nothing to do with pictures, even after being fed. We ended the night with Baby J's bath and then L and S shared a bath with me - that was fun! Then snack, book and bed. I am off to join them for some sleep!

Leelou

I don't normally blog about anything other than my boring life :-) but here's a fun website that has free layouts and they ROCK!

Bad Dream

I have bad dreams all the time. I had one last night. I don't want to remember the dream - just the message I got from it. I need to appreciate my hardworking husband more. He is not perfect (who is?) but he is perfect for me. He is such a generous, hardworking man. I need to show this more.

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a nice weekend. Nothing special - just quality time hanging out. Today was the most productive of all days since having Baby J. I actually have all the laundry done!! We got the playroom cleaned. I say "we" because my wonderful MIL vacuumed for me since that is a no-no for 8 weeks after my c-section and I forgot last weekend getting ready for her visit and paid for it with massive pain for 3 days afterwards. I was able to spend some time with L today one on one and that was very nice. Daddy Piper had some time alone with the kids working in the yard. And best of all... my pics came back for viewing. The pics are amazing!! She really does such a wonderful job at capturing the feelings of the moment - even S when he wasn't so into a new baby. She got the whole emotion on film. Now this week is going to be crazy with Daddy Piper working 16 hour days until a project gets completed. It's going to be a looooonnnngggg week for all of us but the money will be nice in this uncertain economy.

Nice Evening

We had such a nice evening tonight. We had decided to forgo a trip to the local farm in lieu of a campfire and dinner outside. Well worth it. It was FUN! We enjoyed brats and smores out in the lovely evening air. The kids truly enjoy the outdoors. I didn't enjoy it much until I became an adult and lived in MN where I really learned to love being outside. L and S played and ran around enjoying the cool weather while Daddy Piper, Grandma (snuggling with Baby J) and I sat around the campfire watching the kids and enjoying each other's company. S threw a monstrosity of a fit when L moved his char. He is learning with the terrible two's are finally. She was just being nice. Then Daddy Piper was moving HER chair back from the warm fire just as she went to sit down and she plopped on the ground. I laughed and she didn't appreciate that :-)

S walked me up to the house when I had to use the facilities. He thought his mama needed to be protected - how sweet is he! I love the feeling of his hand in mine. It's truly one of the greatest things of being a mom - that sweet hand-holding. And he is one of the sweetest boys I have ever known. Both L and S are so thoughtful and loving. I wish I could attribute that to practicing what they see but I know it's not. They are just great kids.

Nursing

I was just driving down the road remembering the first time I nursed Baby J 3 weeks ago, which led me to remember the first time I nursed L and the first time I nursed S. What a wonderful moment that was - all 3 first times. It is such a feeling only another nursing mother can understand. I wish I could have 50 more kids to have that first time feeling again and again. Another great feeling is to see them thriving on your milk only - what an awesome thing to know my body makes just what my baby needs to grow and thrive and mature. We women are awe-inspiring creatures if you ask me!

GI appt

S had a GI appt today to deal with the blood in his stool. The dr thinks it is a polyp that ruptured and that's where the blood came from. Pretty much said to lay off the apples, bananas and rice to avoid constipation and if there is another episode then we'll need to do a colonoscopy. It was a HORRIBLE appt and I felt so bad forcing him to get a rectal exam. He is just so scared of doctors since having the kidney reflux and testing that came with that illness. He was better after getting a sticker and getting the arm band taken off before we left.

Baby J is now constipated. I think it's because of my pain pills I am still on. I cut back on them today so hopefully he'll get better. I took ibuprofen today hoping that would help the pain but it didn't relieve it as much as the other pills do. I can't believe that J is almost 3 weeks old and I am still in this much pain. I have another followup on Monday to check it out.

We had dinner delivered tonight by a MOPS mom. It was YUMMY fixings for tacos/burritos. Having dinners delivered sure helps me spend more time with the older 2 and takes the stress off the evenings.

Baby J had another bath tonight. L and S came in to help. They bathes Mama while I bathed J. S scrubbed my back and L rinsed me off - what wonderful kids I have!!

Off to bed to rest while I can before Baby J needs another feeding :- )

Baby J has his First Bath!

Tonight was Baby J's first bath. His umbilical cord finally fell off so off we went to the tub for a good scrubbing. Okay not so much a scrubbing as a soaking to get his mama's milk smell from his neck :- ) He seemed okay for a bit but really wasn't keen on the experience after awhile. He wanted to nurse the whole time since he was so close to my "booms". Here are a few pictures:

Now things will start to get a bit busier with our nightime routine, trying to fit #3 into our well oiled machine.

Dr Appt and McDonalds

Today was Baby J's 2 week checkup. The older 2 stayed home with my MIL while I took Baby J. Thank goodness too since the dr was an hour behind - AGAIN! Baby J weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 1/2" long!!!!!! I am so proud of how the nursing is going this time. He is gaining like a champ - makes me feel like a million bucks :- )

After the appt, I drove home and picked up everyone else and we went to McDonalds for lunch. It's only the 2nd time my kids have been there. They played for like an hour and wore themselves out, just in time for naps. Now we are home and Grandma is reading a story to the kids before naptime. Baby J is crying; he needs a snack before his nap I guess.

Lazy Day

My MIL flew in late last night. We let the kids stay up to go get her. It was waaaaayyyy past their bedtime. She got in about 10 and it was 11 or so before the kids got in bed. Everyone was happy to see Grandma and Grandma was pleasantly surprised to see 2 of her 3 AZ grandkids at the airport.

Today I felt horrible when I woke up so I went back to bed and Baby J and I slept until 11:30. We were up for a couple of hours and then back down for naps from 2-5. It was rest I desperately needed!!

Tonight was the first dinner I cooked since having Baby J. It has been very nice to have to meals brought to us for the last 2 weeks. Everyone (mainly Daddy Piper) was happy to have Mom back in the kitchen though :- )

Friday Update

We got Baby J's blood work done today. I don't know who was more upset about this: Baby J, L or me. We were all crying with S looking at us like we were nuts :- ) Then a trip to Target, where they forgot to load a bag into my cart and I didn't notice until we got home and we had to go back and get it - ARGH!

After the initial shopping trip at Target, we hit Starbucks and headed to the van. We got back in the van and I nursed Baby J while the older 2 had a snack. Just as we were all finishing up, S had to go potty so we had to traipse back in to Target to use the facilities. Well I didn't have Baby J in his car seat or a sling so L had to sit on the floor and hold him while I helped S use the potty. Things get more interesting (and mom gets more creative) with each additional child!

Tonight I went to a local breastfeeding store that is going out of business to get a sling. They had a baby scale and I weighed Baby J - he weighs 6 pounds 8 ounces. This nursing is going so well with Baby #3!!!! He gained 10 ounces in 8 days, so wonderful!!!!