Friends & Enemies

Even though I recently had my 3rd child, I am just now discovering some things that I absolutely cannot live without, and others that absolutely make my life miserable. Please to enjoy.

FRIENDS:

1. The Snap-n-Go Stroller

I have decided that this thing is my #1 best friend. Due to the lack of space in the back of our car, we needed to get a smaller stroller than the huge Graco one we've always had. This was the perfect solution for now. Jack's carseat just "Snaps" on & away we go. I can open the back hatch of the car, lift this out, unfold it, refold it, and put it back into the car- ALL WITH ONLY 1 HAND! And, since it's so light, I can wheel it through the thickest of mall crowds with 1 hand & keep hold of the older kids with the other. As Jamie would say- Priceless!!!!!

2. The Snugli

I've always had one of these, but let's just say that I've gained a new appreciation for being able to hold the baby & still have both hands free to strangle- oops, I mean wrangle- the older two kids. 3. Frozen dinners

I thought Andrew was crazy when he hit Safeway & bought a whole cart of these before the baby was born. I never had trouble getting dinner on the table after my other babies. But I have truly LOVED being able to have days when all I have to do is open the freezer & have dinner be done. Convenient? Yes. Lazy? Maybe. A life saver? Definitely.

4. DVR

(I actually was thinking about this last night, Andi. I promise that I didn't copy you!) Anyway, anyone that has it understands. Anyone that doesn't has no idea. Enough said.

5. Laundry bags

I have never used these before, and I regret that. You just fill it up & toss it in the washer. No more searching for teeny little baby socks. No more tiny socks stuck underneath the washer agitator or falling on the ground to be kicked behind the dryer. I heart my laundry bags!

ENEMIES:

1. Mexican food

OK, this is not MY enemy, but apparently Jack has absolutely no tolerance for this particular genre of food. I think I just might wither up & die! What's the point of living if I can't have La Casita or El Guero Canelo? Sigh. 2. Any soda containing caffiene
See Enemy #1. I do not regularly drink caffienated soda, but sometime you just NEED a Dr Pepper! Bigger Sigh.

3. Pimples
My skin was completely clear for my entire pregnancy, and now I have pimples! What the heck? Like a mother of a newborn doesn't already feel bad enough about the way she looks.

4. Costco diapers

Wait, let me clarify. I hate that you CAN'T buy Costco diapers in size 1. (They do sell Huggies size 1-2. But what's the point of buying a case of diapers that you can only use half of?) I adore being able to buy 1 huge box & forget about diapers for the next few weeks. Also, because I can't buy diapers at Costco, that means that I have to go to Wal-Mart more often. Yuck!

A Little Preview of Halloween

Since we thought that I was going to be having a baby sometime in October, Andrew & I started thinking about Halloween costumes all the way back in August. I really feel strongly about making costumes because I can remember all of the great home-sewn costumes that I had as a kid. (My absolute favorite was the Indian princess. I wore it more than once, and I think I might make Emma one next year!) I want my kids to have that same sense that their mom cares enough to do it herself. Besides, have you looked at the costumes in the store? Most of them look like they would fall to pieces if the kid even sneezed the wrong way! I love making costumes for my kids. Here are a few pics of Halloweens past.
But this year the homemade costumes were just not meant to be.

Anyway, because I was a little preoccupied with baby stuff, Andrew sort of got to be in charge of costumes by default this year. This is what he came up with. (Don't get me started on the "hunters are supposed to shoot the deer" issue! We'll just accept that they're cute & leave it at that.) I think that Daddy did a fantastic job.

Our ward had their Halloween party last Friday, and the kids LOVED their costumes. Emma may profess to being a princess girl, but she also is surprisingly excited about shooting elk, deer, and anything else that could be stuffed & mounted on a wall. Strange for a kid that loves animals so much, huh? Frank is all boy & uses everything from keys to sticks to pretend to shoot stuff. So much for my no guns or other deadly weapons as toys rule!

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The thing that really surprised me is that with their hats on, Emma & Frank pretty much looked like twins! I had no idea how much my kids look like each other. I kept calling them by the wrong names all night.

Frank was thrilled when people started giving him candy for free!
Now we're just waiting for the REAL Halloween so that we can load up on all of the candy we can eat. And by we I really mean Mommy & Daddy. I love Halloween!

MOOOOOOOO!!!

I was tagged by a friend recently (sorry I haven't gotten around to doing it yet, K) and it really stunned me.

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One section is: 8 things I did yesterday

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Let's see...

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1. fed the baby

2. took a nap

3. fed the baby

4. got the kids to take a nap

5. fed the baby

and on and on....

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I'm starting to feel like a dairy cow! I did spend the whole day on Monday cleaning (like REALLY cleaning) my house. I even shampooed the carpets! But so far, that's the only thing I've accomplished all week. I have to have a day that I do a whole lot, or at least something interesting, before I post that tag. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually leave the house.......

Emma's First Field Trip!

Emma's preschool class took a trip to Apple Annie's Orchard over in Willcox this week. We had planned on Daddy & Emma riding the bus, and at the last minute we decided that Mommy & the boys would drive over & meet the group there. We go to Apple Annie's every year as a family, but weren't going to have time to make it there this year due to Daddy's work schedule. I kind of felt like I was crashing the party, but it turned out that lots of families went with their kids, so I didn't feel too much like an intruder.

First, the bus ride. Andrew said that Emma spent the first 20 minutes of the trip saying "I've never been on a bus before!" and the last 20 saying "Are we there yet?" These pictures kind of say it all.



We actually saved a lot of money going with the group. We got to do the hayride, a little "school" lesson, pick whatever size pumpkins we wanted, and also do the corn maze. It was pretty windy at first, but we had a great time anyway. It was funny that people from Emma's class kept saying "Oh, you had your baby!" I'm used to him being around, but they haven't seen me for more than 3 weeks, so he was all new to them. Jack stayed cozy & comfy in the Snugli, and away from little preschooler hands that wanted to touch and hold. He was an angel all day, and we had a fantastic time.

After we were done, Emma decided that she wanted to ride home as a family instead of riding the bus. (Yea, she still likes me more than her friends. We'll see how long that lasts!) So we headed on over to the orchard for some fudge. YUM!!

Now I have 4 huge pumpkins sitting on my counter and Emma has already declared that we need to carve 1 as a pirate & 1 as a princess. I love this time of year!

Just the Kids & Me

Wow! This has been one crazy week. We've had stuff scheduled every day and today is the first day all week that I've stayed home. I haven't had ANYTHING on my calendar for weeks, so it's been quite a shock to my system to have to get up & accomplish stuff every day. I've had a few revelations about myself lately, some of them not so pleasant.

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For instance, I had no idea that my body has apparently become quite used to sitting on the couch. A few weeks of bedrest & recovery will do that to you, I guess. So when I made plans to go to town yesterday & run errands all day, I was not prepared to be completely drained before we even were done with our first appointment. I haven't left the house with just the kids & me yet, and maybe I planned too much for our first outing.

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This was my schedule yesterday:

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First- Jack's follow-up hearing screen at the hospital (he failed one ear the first time around)

This took almost 2 hours because he failed again (twice), so we had to go to another part of the hospital & schedule another more involved test in a few weeks. Not to worry- he can hear with his right ear, but it just won't give the numbers needed to "pass" with the computer system they use. The tech thought that he has "skinny tubes" in his ear. Well, that'd be normal for my kids. They're skinny all over!

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After the hospital:

1. Exchange weird-fitting bra for normal-fitting one at Sears.

2. While we're at the mall, why don't we look for a birthday dress for Emma? (Seriously, what was I thinking?) I believe that I was hoping to find a normal dress before they displayed all of the Christmas glittery ones. But alas, it's nothing but satin & sequins in the stores already. Crap. December birthdays are hard! I am proud of myself for thinking that far ahead, though.

3. Return 4 different items to Wal-Mart.

4. Pick up a whole list of stuff at Wal-Mart. (At 4:00 pm- what's wrong with me?)

5. One word- COSTCO!! Now it's 5:00 pm- hungry kids, LONG lines, etc. At this point my legs & body were so tired that I almost couldn't push the cart around the store. And it didn't help that I had to have all 3 kids in the cart just to keep track of them in the crowds. At least they weren't trying to crawl out the whole time like they usually do.

6. Go drop off water bill that's already 4 days late.

7. HOME! Wait, what's for dinner?

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I'm not ashamed to say that I gave the kids chicken nuggets for dinner & just collapsed on the couch for an hour. My body is completely drained this morning and I just want to take a nap. Man, I'm pathetic! I usually can go to town & run errands all day & not bat an eyelash. I guess I need to start working out again & get back into shape if I want to survive wrangling all 3 kids on a regular basis.

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Learning to be a mother of 3 is going to take some serious practice!

Mommy, Help!

"Please, Mommy, help!" came the cry from the backseat.

"Please! Please! It hurts!"

"I pull, it hurts! I try pull, it hurts!"

Oh, Frank. The messes you get yourself into. It took over 5 minutes of soap, water, and a lot of twisting & pulling to get this thing off once we got home. I thought it was hilarious that while we were in the car, he was screaming & almost hysterical. But once we got home, and Daddy mentioned taking pictures for the blog, Frank immediately perked up and posed for me.

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The ridiculous thing is, this is the 2nd time that day he'd gotten this ball stuck on his hand. Even more funny, he got his finger stuck in ANOTHER toy later on that night. Kids!

A Little Bit of Everything

Wow, has it really been almost a week since I posted? I really haven't been doing anything lately, so I don't know why I've neglected the blog. Andrew has literally been waiting on me hand & foot, and the Relief Society has been bringing in meals, so I haven't had to do anything but sleep & feed the baby. What a wonderful little vacation it was!

But now we're back to reality. Andrew went back to work this morning, and oddly enough, today is the day that I manage to blog? Weird. My oldest 2 rugrats are currently over at the table whispering & giggling instead of eating lunch, and the little one has been conked out since 7:45 this morning. Why doesn't he sleep this long at night?

It's been a little rough the past couple of days. My 2 little "angels" have been overcome by moods ranging from obstinate to outright nasty, and it's taken all that Andrew & I have to not completely lose our minds. Maybe this has something to do with the new baby being around, but I really think it's more of a product of having Daddy home for so long, coupled with Emma needing to be back in school. Only 1 more week until she starts again, thank goodness! Today it's been a lot better, and I think it's because the kids are more used to it just being them & me around the house. Hopefully things get back to normal soon.

I'll just share a few photos that we've taken this past week. Man, time flies!

Can you say content?

Oh, I'm married to such a good man! This is the scene I found when I came into the bedroom last night. Priceless!

Jack's 1st bath. Notice my other 2 kids almost in tears because the baby was fussing. Emma actually yelled at me to "Stop bothering my brother!"

Target dollar bin socks for everyone! Yeah, we're cheap, but look how cute they are!

Every night we have to lay the baby down & let Emma & Frank cuddle him for awhile before bed. Emma says that she can't sleep unless she can love her brother. What a trio!