Child #1: Hank...officially 3 1/2 going on 15. Loves angry birds and any game that can be played on an i-device, telling jokes, having fires with dad in the backyard, playing with friends, play dough, and chocolate milk. Hank is a total brain-inquisitive, thinker, problem solver (has a brain that works just like his dad's) Learning to read and write, and still can't seem to get a spot in preschool for the fall...hanging out on 3 waiting lists, fingers crossed for a phone call soon! Let's hope getting into college will be a little easier (and possibly cheaper) than getting into a preschool around here. A master of negotiation....everything is always 3 more bites, 5 more minutes, or if I do this, then I will get this. I stand by our house rule that we do not negotiate with terrorists. Recently started 3 year old soccer--not quite sure what we think about team sports yet, but the uniform is fun-swim lessons start in a month. Still a fierce mama's boy, and so so thoughtful. He makes me so proud the way he cares for others and is so genuinely interested in being kind to those he loves. He adores his sisters (both of them) and says he wants to share his room with both of them! Both Lucy and "my other sister in mom's belly" get a big kiss every night and every morning.
Child #2: Lucy Jane
These babes come so far in just 12 months of life. Lucy is now a walking, talking, noisy little person in the house. She's figured out the purpose of communication, but can't quite get all the words out yet that she needs to. Finger pointing and grunting (typically at the refridgerator) all day long. She does have about 10-15 words already, and is doing all those fun baby things like "showing her nose", giving kisses, and waving byebye. If we don't immediately figure out what she wants--screaming and banging her head on the floor ensues. She's got quite a flair for the dramatic. She is certainly still my more laid back child, and very independent. She can now be found toddling from room to room throwing rocks at her dolls and whatnot. A girly girl she is not, she comes in for bath every night completely covered in dirt. Favorite toys are dinosaurs, hot wheels, trains, and anything musical. Put her in a dress she will scream and pull at it until you take it off, put a bow in her hair it immediately comes out and thrown across a room. A true animal lover-her favorites are birds and never misses a birdie when we are out. She's a noisy little thing--always yelling or babbling loudly about something. Her days are filled with lots of giggling as her brother knows just how to make her laugh uncontrollably. She is a tough little thing, if Hank is making her mad she will pull his hair and has been known to knock him off a chair or two. Still a snuggler when she's tired--needs her "bink and a bun" to sleep. Speaking of sleep--for the past month the peanut finally decided that night time was meant for sleeping--11 hours straight every night now--only took 13 months to get there! She eats more than anyone else in the family, and has started the awesome stage of throwing food wildly off her tray when she is done. I have to scrape the floors and walls 3 times a day now :) While Hank is my fierce mama's boy, Lucy is daddy's number one fan. All day long she will look at me and ask "hi dada?" wondering when he will be home from work.
Child #3: The easiest one of the bunch at the moment...Currently at 23 weeks feeling her kick and punch me all day now. I never tire of feeling the little ones moving around inside me, it is such a special time that a mama shares with just her baby before the baby is shared with the whole world. Honestly, I am probably enjoying the third time around more than the other two-not because I'm not exhausted, hot, bothered, sore, and achey everyday because believe me I am. You just don't stress about each subsequent child like you do the first time. I am so excited to add this one to the brood-the relationship I see growing between Hank and Lucy is so amazing to watch. I never got to experience the bond of siblings, so I am very much enjoying watching it in my own children. A sibling is the greatest gift you can give to a child, I'm sure of it now. I can only imagine how the dynamic will change with the 3rd little one.
20 weeks-the halfway point!
To accommodate these children described above, we are quickly approaching demo day where our cute 1600 sq foot, 100 year old home is getting her "top popped" as those in our hood call it. We finalized plans with the contractor and architect today for an amazing 700ish sq foot upstairs addition or the "kids wing". Two bedrooms, bathroom, laundry room, and huge playroom will make up the space, and anyone who files as a dependent on our tax returns plus all of their associated belongings will be heading up! This will be a life changing addition to our home as we currently are being taken over by our children and their extensive amounts of fisher price related items. I plan to blog through the whole journey as I'm sure we will want to remember all the joys and stresses of a massive home renovation someday when the dust has settled (literally). The first step for us was to deal with the disaster zone that had become our attic, as we are losing most of our attic storage. We managed to clear out 2/3 of the junk and eliminate between a yard sale and a huge donation to the Kidney Foundation. So hopefully if all goes well in the permitting office at the city and the structural engineer we are just a few short weeks away from construction!
Our (almost) finalized plans!
Child #3: The easiest one of the bunch at the moment...Currently at 23 weeks feeling her kick and punch me all day now. I never tire of feeling the little ones moving around inside me, it is such a special time that a mama shares with just her baby before the baby is shared with the whole world. Honestly, I am probably enjoying the third time around more than the other two-not because I'm not exhausted, hot, bothered, sore, and achey everyday because believe me I am. You just don't stress about each subsequent child like you do the first time. I am so excited to add this one to the brood-the relationship I see growing between Hank and Lucy is so amazing to watch. I never got to experience the bond of siblings, so I am very much enjoying watching it in my own children. A sibling is the greatest gift you can give to a child, I'm sure of it now. I can only imagine how the dynamic will change with the 3rd little one.
20 weeks-the halfway point!
To accommodate these children described above, we are quickly approaching demo day where our cute 1600 sq foot, 100 year old home is getting her "top popped" as those in our hood call it. We finalized plans with the contractor and architect today for an amazing 700ish sq foot upstairs addition or the "kids wing". Two bedrooms, bathroom, laundry room, and huge playroom will make up the space, and anyone who files as a dependent on our tax returns plus all of their associated belongings will be heading up! This will be a life changing addition to our home as we currently are being taken over by our children and their extensive amounts of fisher price related items. I plan to blog through the whole journey as I'm sure we will want to remember all the joys and stresses of a massive home renovation someday when the dust has settled (literally). The first step for us was to deal with the disaster zone that had become our attic, as we are losing most of our attic storage. We managed to clear out 2/3 of the junk and eliminate between a yard sale and a huge donation to the Kidney Foundation. So hopefully if all goes well in the permitting office at the city and the structural engineer we are just a few short weeks away from construction!
Our (almost) finalized plans!
Well that's the news in a nutshell-a rather large nutshell I realize, but hey, we have a lot going on all the time. My absolute favorite saying about parenting (and I have no idea where I heard it)...the days are long, but the years are short-ain't that the truth?
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