A Vampire, a Tiger and a Strawberry.

Halloween 2012

Oh and a couple of Where's Waldos.

Random Tuesday

1.  I totally jinxed myself. Right after I wrote about how Addy was a pretty good sleeper, she got herself a cold over the weekend that completely disrupted her sleep (and ours) for two entire nights. Poor babes and their obligate nasal breathing. After two nights of basically no sleep for Addy, Pat and I due to the fact that Addy couldn't breath which made sleeping impossible for her which then made sleeping impossible for us, I remembered I had bought this little treasure awhile back. Oh.my.goodness. The Nosefrida aka Snot Sucker is ahhmaaazing! The concept sounds kinda gross, but it's totally not and it works like a charm to get out all that gooey, icky snot hanging out in Addy's nose making it difficult for her to breath. It works better than anything I have ever tried on my babies and I know it it is going to be a life saver this winter. It already helped get us some good sleep last night!

2. This made me want to laugh and tear up with emotion all at the same time.

3. I want to make these cherry pie bars because cherries are my absolute favorite fruit in a dessert and then I want to make this recipe for the perfect apple crisp because it's fall and that's what you do. Oh and I must try this. Just as the pin says (not my words, but I totally agree), my mind is blowing up at the thought (except I would use chocolate not Nutella...I don't get the hype). How do I not think of this stuff??

4. We "Booed" some friends. Shockingly, they couldn't have cared less about what goodies were in those buckets because they got quite a kick out of being sneaky little delivery ninjas.

5. I'm mentally preparing myself not for Halloween, but for the sugar high and the inevitable plunge that it takes the day after. I can do it...I can do it....

6. This show just keeps getting better and better and better. Who would have thunk that I would be saying that about zombies of all things...not this girl!

7. I whipped this up for dinner the other night. No really, it's probably the easiest recipe I have seen attached to the name Martha Stewart. Jack turned his nose up in the air as he asked, "umm, what is this?" And then after he gave it a try, he said, "oh mommy, this is actually good...really good". When this happens (and it often does in our house), Pat and I then chant real dorky, "he likes it, he really, really likes it!!".

Adelyn: 5 months

Addy turned 5 months old, oh just a couple of weeks ago. It's amazing what lack of sleep can do to a girl, which is why I am just getting to this post. I can't complain too much though because Addy is a rock star sleeper compared to her brothers at this age. Thank goodness! She is officially eating solids and working her way up the single foods chain. She is completely weaned from breastfeeding and now drinks formula. As her mother, I wished I could have breastfed/pumped for much longer, but I decided I needed to stop for a few reasons. First, I was dang tired (just when you think you are tired, oh no you can be more tired...it's possible) and second, I was starting to feel anxious, which I know was related to my exhaustion and those raging hormones having a dance party in my brain and third, I wanted/needed Pat (and he wanted) to help more. I initiated the weaning and Addy took over deciding the bottle/formula would be just as yummy. Ever since this decision played out, I have felt incredibly better and Addy continues to be happy as a clam. Win-Win.

These 5 month pictures of Addy are kinda shotty. Addy is adorable, but the pictures themselves are not so good. I randomly decided to do this one day when I was in a hurry. Being in a hurry and working with a 5 month old most definitely do not make a good paring. She just wanted to roll around and eat the fabric. Anyway, moving on...

Like I said, Addy is rolling around, front to back and back to front constantly. Pat gets all the credit for teaching her this as he would work with her every.single.day. One day it just clicked for her and she has been a roller every since. She is now working on sitting up, which she can do for an extended period of time with the Boppy around her waist. Without it though, it's only for a few minutes. It will come.

She gotten herself into a nice little sleep schedule (knock on wood..knock on wood real loud). She naps for a few hours in the afternoon and sleeps 7 pm to 7 am with two nighttime feedings. Pat and I takes turns on those, so we both get sleep and we both get snuggle time with Addy. I'm sure as I type this, her first tooth will decide to pop through (which I think it might be soon) and completely destroy this current schedule. Such is life.

Addy is babbling like crazy! She smiles and she is just starting to laugh. She loves to grab faces and give big wet kisses (aka suck on your nose or chin). Pat and I love those slobbery moments, but the boys are completely grossed out by it. HaHa! They are still totally in love with her and will usually help me out whenever I ask things like, "can you just talk to her for a few minutes or can you play with her for a minutes so Mommy can go to the bathroom real quick?"

Adelyn is just a lovie!

 I think she is looking like Jack with a side of  her Momma somewhere in there.

No School!

Jack had off of school today (and tomorrow). We threw our plans out the window and decided to be plan-less and lazy! And when I say lazy, I mean the boys stayed in their jammies the entire day and we didn't leave the house until 4:00 pm, which was only to go on a needed Target run. The boys loved it. They had a great day playing together, rediscovering toys that had been forgotten and using their imagination to create an animal center (a la Diego). Surprisingly, for a girl like me who gets antsy (very antsy) staying in my house past 10:00 am, I thoroughly enjoyed the day too! 

Sometimes it's good to slow down, put the brakes on life and soak up what is all around you.

We carved pumpkins (Jack carved his own...a first...I was freaking out inside...but he assured me he could do it safely...and he did..phew...smile!), cut paper (my kids LOVE to use scissors), colored, made a really long choo-choo train, played in our basement, watched Madagascar 3 and a slew of other activities (all in their jammies).

 

 

A 24 hour schedule

"With a baby, you are no longer on a night and day schedule, it is now a 24 hour schedule." This is what the nurse reminded me of during my hospital discharge after Adelyn was born. Ahh yes, thank you for the reminder kind nurse! And that is just what we have been living for the past 5 months. 

We are handling it pretty well (and by pretty well, I mean we both have glossy, red eyes with large dark circles underneath), but we both have our moments when we hit the wall...the exhaustion wall. Luckily, we usually experience this at different times so we can lean on each other in those moments of pure manic exhaustion. Now Adelyn is not the only one sleeping in this house, obviously her brothers are as well. They are awesome sleepers and have been since about 1 year old. However, they too have rough nights from time to time (thirsty, bad dream, it's too dark, it's too light, a monster in the room, a shadow on the wall, etc). Here is a classic example of what that sweet nurse was reminding me of when I was all up in my new baby glory. It happened just last night.

7:00 pm: Put Addy to bed.

7:30: Put boys to bed.

11:00: Addy wakes to eat.

2:30 Jack wakes up from a bad dream, rushes into my room in tears and jumps into our bed (it must have been a scary one because this rarely happens)

3:30: Addy wakes again (probably doesn't need to eat, but I'm so out of it that I feed her anyway).

3:45: Pat brings Jack back to his bed because he is still awake. He cries and calls out for me because he is still scared.

4:00: After I feed Addy, I go lay with Jack to cuddle him and calm his fears before I head back to bed.

5:45: Addy wakes again and Pat rubs her belly, shushs her and giver her a nuk.

6:30: Addy wakes again and Pat feeds her so I can take a shower,

6:35: Owen wakes up but we tell him he needs to stay in bed until 7:00 (that is our rule in this house...you can get out of bed when your alarm clock says 7:00 am).

7:00: Owen gets up.

7:15 Jack wakes up.

8:00 Addy wakes up.

I'm exhausted just from reading that...ugh! I know this too shall pass, but in the middle of the night when I would give anything for a few more hours/minutes of sleep, it just doesn't seem possible.

Good thing these munchkins are so darn cute and I love them to pieces.

Leaves in all their glory.

How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.

~John Burroughs