Making Adjustments

Whew! We are 3.5 weeks into adapting to not only a newborn but a 3rd child. YOWZA! Will was extremely gassy and suffering from gas pains so we changed formulas and are using probiotics recommended by his physician. Pampers were giving him a rash so we've changed to Huggies. I think we've got both issues under control. He is a very good boy during the day, but has been my most difficult baby when it comes to nighttime sleeping. He won't sleep in his crib and usually likes to stay up for 1 to 2 hours after eating in the middle of the night. This wouldn't be so horrible if his big sisters would learn to let me sleep. It is devastating to finally get him to sleep at 5 a.m. and then have my next wake up call come so quickly. Evy was awake at 5:56 and 6:05 a.m. this week. Adjusting to the terrible lack of sleep resulting from a newborn who likes to be up all night and big kids who like to be up early and all day has probably been the hardest part.

The good news is that the girls still love him.

And this picture just cracks me up because it's the perfect example of the chaos going on in this house right now. On Friday nights Scott and I both list the things we have to accomplish (and can't be done while tending to children-because there are an additional 25 items we each need to do while managing at least one child) over the weekend. This weekend my list was clean the floors, clean the bathrooms, and take one walk by myself, maybe even paint my toenails if I can have 15 minutes without someone needing me. Scott's list was to mow the yard, workout, fix various items in the house, and re-install the curtain rod that the girls pulled out of the wall. It's 9:30 p.m. on Sunday and I think we got 98% of our list done.

Summer Fun

I am trying to squeeze in all of our favorite summer activities on the days that I have some extra help. Last week Grandma Joan assisted on a trip to Niabi Zoo.  

 

Snowflake has always been Evy's favorite horse. This trip, she rode Snowflake once and then decided to try a larger horse. Watch out Snowflake, it seems that Chestnut has taken over as the favorite! Charlie rode Snowflake and says Snowflake is her favorite now.

A picnic lunch. Evy wanted to throw most of her food on the ground to feed the birds.

This is mostly what Will does. He likes being on the move.

When we were leaving the park the girls got to pick out a treat. It was a big debate between cotton candy and ice cream sandwiches. In the end, Charlie chose blue cotton candy...

...and Evy chose pink.

Customary photo on the way out of the zoo riding the lions.

Grammy Sherry helped us out this week so that we were able to find two more Herky's and try out Scratch cupcakes.

The girls thought it was hilarious that this Herky had brown hair.

Defiant

This kid is sweet and sassy and presenting us with an entirely new level of defiance. Even through ages two and three Evy could pretty easily be reasoned with and she was pretty good at following our rules. Charlie doesn't give a sh*t what we ask her to do. Tonight at dinner time she repeatedly dunked her hand in her milk. After multiple requests for her to stop I put her in time out. When I put her in time out she said "Mommy is a poopy butt." She got another 2 minutes added to time out. After time out she said "Sorry for calling you a poopy butt. I called you a pee butt too." Oh, child!

Two Weeks Old

Will has had a busy two weeks. For the first few nights home he was partying from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. I finally figured out that he likes to sleep in his bouncy seat so that's what we're doing. Now, he eats at 10:30 p.m., sleeps in his bouncy seat until 2 or 3 a.m., eats again, and sleeps until 7 a.m. He's a keeper and we will continue to let him sleep in the bouncy seat as long as he's willing to sleep like this!

 

I've had lots of help these first two weeks. Scott was home for a week and my mom is here this week. Great friends have been dropping off meals each night. I have been very spoiled and have appreciated every minute of it. Watch for a nervous breakdown next week when our schedule turns to the new "normal."

 

Today we took our first long stroller ride.

Will joined me at work for a retirement party. It was soooo exciting that he slept through the entire thing. Afterwards I had this photo taken (while I was dressed and had my hair done!) as I realized there isn't a single photo of me with Will since we've gotten home.

Will's big sisters still love to hold him and feed him. They have been excellent big sisters!

Just hanging out!

11 Day Update

 

Coming home from the hospital.

The big sisters have been scoring lots of great gifts. Thanks Mayhem clan!

Will has been getting lots of snuggles.

Yesterday Will's umbilical cord fell off so it was time for his first bath. He wasn't too crazy about it.

This is what bath time looks like in our house now. Talk about multi-tasking!

The Day My Son was Born

I set my alarm for 6 a.m. When it sounded I immediately called Labor and Delivery to see if they could induce me that morning. Luckily, they said come in at 8. We were in a mad rush to get the girls to daycare and to the hospital on time. By the time I was settled in the hospital bed my pulse was still through the roof. The doctor broke my water at 8:30 and started Pitocin at 9:30. As we waited we discussed names. We had a boy name locked down, but were sure we wouldn't need it. We focused on determining a girls name. I got my epidural at 11:30 and was able to relax until about 2:30 when it was time to start pushing. As I pushed we told the nurses we had two daughters at home and didn't know the sex of this baby, although we were sure it was a girl. I pushed for about 40 minutes and then when the doctor lifted the baby up to my chest I saw boy parts just as the Doctor announced, "It's a boy!" Scott and I both burst into tears. So did the nurses. Truly a surprise of a lifetime.

We were planning to name a baby boy Maxwell Scott. That changed about 20 minutes before he was born when Scott threw me a curve ball. He said he didn't like Maxwell anymore. So, let me introduce William Scott to you! Will was born at 3:11 p.m. and weighed 8 lb 4 oz. He is 20 inches long. We are in love.

First time Mommy meets Will.

This could not be one happier Daddy

Big boy

This picture cracks me up. The girls are playing with gifts from Will, paying no

attention to their new brother.

 By day two the girls were warming up to Will and took turns holding him.

Charlie loves giving him kisses

Attempting a family photo. The family is complete.

Family of Four Fun

Before the baby arrived we had one last fun day as a family of four. Each summer the girls like to ride the bus to campus and play downtown. I thought we would check this off our summer bucket list while I had Dad's help and wasn't lugging a newborn and stroller.

 

Riding the bus is so fun! Hold on it goes fast! The kids had lots of questions about how the bus worked. How did the driver know where we were going? Could we take the bus home? Why aren't we riding the blue bus?

Charlie was hilarious in the fountain. She would put her face right in the water stream and alternatively put her bum over the stream and scream "Oh my butt!" This kid is full of it.

Evy was a little less interested in getting wet, but liked running between the fountain and the playground.

Sisters!

 

For lunch we did a little culinary tour and got food from several different places while we walked around. The girls finished with ice cream and I finished with two cookies. Had to take in as many calories as possible while they are still free pregnancy calories!

Dance Recital 2014

 

Evy just wrapped up her 3rd year of Dance. This year she took a combo class for the first time that included tap. Her class spent the first 20 minutes doing tap and then changed into ballet shoes for 20 minutes of ballet. At the break Evy always said she was so tired. Her legs couldn't take doing both tap and ballet in the same night! However, the second she got in the studio she grinned from ear to ear and looked like she was having the time of her life.

 

For her recital Evy's class tap danced to "Baby Love" and they were absolutely adorable!

 

 

Charlie wanted a picture by herself too.

Evy wanted a picture with Charlie.

39 weeks, but who's counting???