Little annoyances

Y'all, it's killing me.

Killing. Me.

I have so much to post about. Well, nothing that's particularly interesting to anyone but me and my childrens' grandparents, but it's killing me that so many memories are slipping by without being documented somewhere. At this point, I just can't fit it all into a day.

And you know I can't stand that because that's admitting defeat!!

I only have a few minutes before I have to feed Little Man, so I have to be brief. How about I make a post about a couple of motherhood things that are bothering me lately? That's really the quickest material I have for the moment.

1.) My heart breaks every single time one of my children suggests we do something and I have to put them off for something else. Even when I'm able to go back and do whatever it was they wanted to do later, which I always make a point to do, it still hurts me when I can't do what they want to do in the moment they want to do it. (i.e. putting off reading a book because it's time to feed the baby, etc.)

2.) I'm a "darter". When I run into a room of the house, I don't linger. I get what I need or do what I need to do, and then I get out. My girls have this tendency to follow me into each and every room I go into, but the problem is they are not "darters" too! So by the time they get into the room, I'm already turning out the light and leaving it. Then they get mad. I don't know what I can do to stop it, or if it's really anything that needs to be addressed, but it's off my chest now.

Whew! I feel better. If anyone can relate or has any suggestions, I'd love to hear from you!

Windows on a Sunday

Before I launch into today's goings-on, let me start with something from yesterday before I forget forever: Rosie, our 1 1/2 year-old daughter, tee-teed in her little potty yesterday right before bathtime! We were so excited for her. She kept pointing to it saying "pah-tee! pah-tee!" (potty). She got an M&M, and of course once she was done with it she began saying "moe!" (more) and signing it too. And then we launched into our family's traditional celebration song (while clapping):

"Good job Rosie (or insert family member's name),
Good job Rosie,
Good job Rosie,
You're doing a good job!"

And then 3 1/2 year-old M, who had just gone in the big-girl potty, wanted M&Ms too! We had to explain to her that she used to get them when she was potty training, but now that she's a big girl and can do it all by herself, she'll no longer get them. Smart girl!

We're not actively trying to potty train Rosie. We'll suggest that she try her potty out every now and then, and J just got lucky last night.

And can I also tell you that right now as I type, I hear J cleaning the shower in our master bathroom? Oh, how I love that man!

So today. It wasn't an exciting day by any means. I woke up with a headache that ended up staying with me all day long (and I rarely get headaches!), so I didn't feel so great and was for all intents and purposes useless. And I went back to bed after "Stu's" morning feeding at 6:30 instead of getting myself ready for the day like I've been in the habit of doing. If I don't get up and get ready before everyone else, it won't happen at all and then I'll end up not wanting to go anywhere.

(We're staying away from church for the time being. Rosie was hospitalized at 7 weeks with the flu, so we're being much more careful about not taking the children many places this time around. We have no idea how she caught the flu, but it could have come from the girls being at church and bringing it home to her. I really miss being there, though. It just feels weird to have missed for three weeks in a row!)

You'd think I wouldn't have anything to blog about, and that's what I thought too. Until I went back and reviewed the photos I took today! Last weekend, I was inspired by my friend Sarah's post about an Ali Edwards' "document your weekend" challenge, so I've been trying to be more aware of the little moments that make our weekends memorable--even the seemingly mundane.

This morning, I caught J and his new napping buddy on the couch:


This is very special to me because he spent lots and lots of time doing the same exact thing with the girls when they were babies! J loves to sleep, and sharing that time with his children is very special to him, too. Both M and Rosie were born in the fall/winter, so he always enjoyed the extra warmth they provided! He calls his babies his "mobile heating units".

Add to that that this is J's only son...priceless!

Since it was a lounge-y kind of day, the girls had free reign to pretty much tear up the house with their toys since I was on the couch or in the recliner much of the day. (Usually I'm up policing the mess-making!)

I love that the girls spend a lot of time "reading" at their own volition, but Rosie made me smile today at our "book basket":


Turn your back on her for just a moment, and she'll make a mess! She must have been searching for a book at the bottom of the basket.

Then when I checked on her a few more minutes later:



She had the whole basket emptied! But she's my tidy girl, and she did clean them up on her own later in the evening.

M continues to love her little brother:


She's always ready with cuddles and smooches for him! I can't get over her tenderness and love toward him. I'm so thankful! She and Rosie are always so excited to see him after he gets up from his naps.

We had a hodge-podge dinner of a few leftovers from meals that friends have been bringing us every other night, plus I made some pancakes for the girls. While I was cleaning up, I found M playing with Stu:


She'd removed the canopy from her baby doll stroller and made a cover for Stu's head! Then she brought over several toys that she was showing him. I told J how excited I was that she took that initiative! I told him, "I think this big sister thing is going to work in my favor!" I bet she's going to be my little helper in keeping Stu entertained.

Judging by the look on his face, I'm not so sure he's as enthused. But he didn't fuss!

(Check out his legs...I LOVE those little chicken legs!!)

Back to the meals...can I just say how fun it is to be blessed so abundantly by friends and family? We've not had to make dinner since we brought Stu home, and we'll continue to receive meals through next week. It's so nice not to have to worry about cooking! Oh, how the Lord blesses us through His people! And the food has been absolutely fantastic! I'm going to end up with lots of new recipes.

I'm happy to report that my headache finally went away sometime after dinner. I hate that we sort of wasted the day (I know J loves more than anything to be out and doing things), but I won't deny that I loved the nap I had during the childrens' afternoon nap! It was raining, too, which made it even more delicious. I think our late nights and early mornings caught up with me today.

So with that thought in mind, I'm going to sign off for now and see if I can make it to bed before midnight for once!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! And on a personal note, thank you to the brave men in our family who sacrificed big parts of their lives to serve our country in the military.

Two weeks

Darling Son,

You are now officially two weeks old. Crazy. How can that be already?? I was blessed to have the entire morning and afternoon all to myself with you today, which caused me to reflect on your little life thus far. You had your two-week check-up yesterday, so it's a good time to review!

First off, I'm obsessed with your hair. It's so "man" already! Pretty, dark brown and full. Just like your daddy and your sisters at this age. And you have an adorable built-in part already...you look so mature even at this young age! Haha! A dear friend of mine--the previous Children's Pastor at our church, commented that you have a very Republican look about you. And I couldn't agree more...your hair is ready for politics for sure!!

Your hair looks best when you're straight out of the bath, so most of your photos thus far are just that--right after your bath. The photos in this post are from this very morning. (By the way, so far you've not been a big fan of baths. Today's bath, though, was a little less fussy for you! Maybe you're getting used to it.)
At the doctor, you weighed 7 lbs. 4.5 oz. That's a great gain! You're in the 25th percentile for weight, and the 50th percentile for height. At this point the doctors want you to have regained to at least your birth weight, and you're well past it. You were 6 lbs. 13 oz. when you were born.

You've already actually visited your doctor's office even though most babies don't have to go until age two weeks. You went a couple of days after we came home because your hospital pediatrician was concerned with your eating and that you weren't "getting" it quite yet. So he recommended we have you checked out. But it only took you a couple of days to figure it out. Daddy thinks you finally decided "Hey! I'm hungry!" and decided you were ready to eat!

The first time I held you, you were laying on your tummy on my chest. You immediately held your head up and looked at me--and kept it steady! From that moment, you've been doing that. You're a champ at tummy time!

You really love your pacifier. REALLY love it. Although it seems like you're depending on it less these last couple of days, for the first week or so of your life you couldn't deal without it.

You love to sleep swaddled up, and your daddy's a champion swaddler. The last few days, though, you've busted your arms out of the swaddle, so I'm wondering if you're about done with blankets?

You're settling into a lovely routine, which makes me insanely happy! Today was by far your best day--eating, playing, napping on schedule.


You sleep for 4-5 hour stretches each night. The only really difficult night we've had was your second night at home. You were awake every two hours that night! But generally, you're only up once in the middle of the night sometime between 2-3 AM, and you're awake for breakfast sometime between 5-7 AM.

You're currently eating 3 ounces of formula every 3 hours. But we think you're about ready to be bumped up to 3.5 ounces.

For the last two days, you've been more alert than ever! Yesterday you were really looking around and taking in your surroundings. Today when I talked to you, you'd look directly into my eyes and even give me some facial expressions!

You've smiled for me a lot...even during the first few days of your life! You most often give me a half-smile, but the last few days I've been getting whole smiles, too. (The half-smile is going to kill the ladies when you grow up! It's adorable!)



Daddy has trouble getting you to burp, but for me you're a champ. You almost always burp for me within the first few seconds of being upright! That's such a refreshing change from your sisters, who were almost always impossible to burp.

Only in the last couple of days, you've begun every now and then to grab a little fistful of your hair and pull soooo hard. It makes you cry--hard--but you don't understand how to let go, so it's a cycle. Even Daddy can't get you to let go! Poor baby! You didn't do it today at all, so hopefully that phase is over.

When you cry, Daddy describes it as sounding like a jungle bird.

All the things that are supposed to fall off of you in the first few weeks of your life--one of which is your umbilical cord stump ("umbie", we call it!), the other I'll not mention here on the blog--fell off very early Monday morning, May 18. Again, a refreshing change from your sisters. They held on to their umbies for almost a month!!

You had your first trip to an auto parts store last night.




You are so laid back and rarely get fussy. (I see a pattern here...again, a big change from your sisters...) You sleep in a cradle next to our bed still, and we can take a shower at night, get ready in the mornings, etc., with the bathroom lights flaring, making all our usual noises, etc., without you making a peep. Your sisters were verrrrry light sleepers. We couldn't ever move in our bedroom when your sisters were babies!

You and your sisters are going to have your daddy's runner's legs, I think. Your legs, ankles and feet are really, really skinny!

You began to grip this week!

Your eyes are a very dark blue--a slightly different shade than your sisters--but I'm not convinced they're going to stay that way. I see subtle shades of brown in them, and they seem to have gotten darker and less blue in the last couple of days. It'll be funny if they do turn brown--you and Daddy would have brown eyes, me and the girls would have blue eyes!

You don't mind it when your sisters come and paw all over you. In fact, M loves to hold you, and you let her do it most of the time!

You used to poop during every single bottle, but it's tapered off in the last couple of days to just once or twice a day. I'm happy about it, but then again it's also getting stinkier! :0)

I'm happy to say that you've only peed on me three times so far, and you've "gotten" Daddy several more times than that! The first time was one of the first times I changed your diaper--at home. Second time was while I was changing you in the middle of the night on my side of the bed. It shot over all the way onto your daddy's blanket! We had a good laugh about it. It was quite an impressive trajectory!

Your skin is very "peely" like Rosie's was. It doesn't seem to bother you, thankfully! Your skin is also a pretty, darker olive color like your daddy's is. Your sisters were born the same way, but theirs grew lighter like mine as they grew. I've been thinking the last couple of days that maybe your skin is looking lighter, but maybe it's my imagination. Who knows whether or not you'll retain the physical characteristics of your ethnic background?! I thought your sisters would, but they pretty much turned out looking Swedish like me. :0)

You have long, very slender fingers and toes. M has them too, but Rosie's fingers are shorter. But you all have long monkey toes like your daddy!

You're the only one of our children without the longer middle toe! I think one day the girls are going to be mad that you have the "even" toes and not them! We'll have to remind them that the long middle toe comes from their daddy and not me!

You're wearing newborn sized clothes still, although your onesies are beginning to get a little snug. We'll be moving up to 0-3 months soon!

You're still in a newborn sized diaper.

Unlucky for you, you have blocked tear ducts like Rosie did. So you, too, have to deal with crusty, goopy eyes that get stuck shut sometimes. It makes your mommy sad!

When it's cuddle time for you and me, sometimes I reassure myself by telling you that I understand that one day you won't be mine--your heart will eventually belong to another woman, and I'm okay with that--but for right now you're mine. :0) And I do all I can to memorize what it feels like to wrap my arms around your little, tiny, warm, sweet-smelling body.

Just like M and Rosie, I love you so much it feels like my heart could burst.

Redeeming moments

Today was a ho-hum day. I should be feeling triumphant--I test-drove life after J goes back to work in a few days. And I was successful...in the most basic of terms. He had a rare opportunity to go sailing with my uncle, which I encouraged him to do since he's been working so hard taking care of us while I recover. So I was solo with all three babies for the better part of the day.

I've been a little nervous about handling three children on my own, but today was actually pretty good. Everyone's still alive, and that's the most important thing, right?! I still can't drive though, and staying at home will obviously be easier. Going out with three children will be the kicker!

I downplay "successful" because I don't feel like it was one of those "Mother of the Year" days. We watched a lot of TV. Which always makes me feel like the worst mother ever. When the younger ones were napping, I did not take advantage of the one-on-one time with my oldest. We pretty much continued to veg...in between me getting up to accomplish some little homekeeping tasks. And when I hit the "pause" button on my children to get my work done, that always makes me feel yucky. So in those terms, it was not the greatest of days.

When I have days like this, I usually try to regroup when everyone's down for afternoon nap and make plans to (what I've dubbed) "redeem the day" in the late afternoon/evening. I want to do my best to end my childrens' day on a high note, no matter what the first part of our day was like!

I don't feel like I ever really achieved total redemption of the day today, but while we were getting the babies ready for bed, we did experience what I'll call from here on out a "redeeming moment".

While J was brushing M's teeth, our 1 1/2 year-old Rosie climbed up on the sink stool to look at herself in the mirror. She put her hand on her hair and said "bow"! I had a few extra minutes before M would be ready, and Rosie was already ready, so I did what I've been meaning to try on her hair:

PIGTAILS!

She loved them. And I loved her in them too! I love this little sweetie. She walked all around the house testing them out. All of us couldn't stop giggling at how cute she was. I took about a hundred photos of her, and this is the best I could do. She will not stay still enough for a good photo anymore! This girl is on the move. And when you ask her to smile, she'll say "cheeeeese!", look away, and THEN smile. Grrr!

While we were getting the girls ready, I'd laid Stu on M's bed so he could snooze and I'd have free hands. When we'd gotten the girls wrangled up to settle in for our prayer time, we headed into their bedroom and piled onto the bed around him. He stayed asleep, but M snuggled up next to him on her pillow. I was just struck with how sweet she is to him. It really is a big difference from Rosie's arrival! She is so loving and tender to her baby brother. I'm convinced it's her age. She's always snuggling up to him and remarking how much he loves her. She tells me all the time how precious he is, and sometimes she calls him "Sugar Sugar" like I call all of the children at times. She's turned into a little mommy!

Rosie kept patting him and saying "Bee-bee! Bee-bee!" like she always does. We can tell she is in love with him, too.

We bowed our heads as J led us in prayer like he does every night, except now I have to keep my eyes cracked open to make sure the girls are being good to their brother. :0) It was such a sweet thing to behold...my Godly husband leading his family to the throne of grace, covering each of us in prayer, and my daughters snuggled up to their brother.

Did we end the day on a high note? Definitely yes.

Stephen Curtis Chapman sure had it right in his song "Moment Made for Worshiping". Now that I'm a mother, that song comes to mind multiple times a day as God reveals Himself to me in new ways--through the lives of my beautiful children!

Rain showers and baby showers

For a dreary, rainy Saturday, we spent it doing happy things. We headed to counties north to see lots of family and friends. First off was a baby shower for my college BFF Nikki. J had to drive me there because I'm not allowed to drive for another week. So while I was partying it up with my mom friends (Ha!), he was having his first experience being out with all three children by himself. He took them to late lunch and met his mom and stepdad (the shower was being held very near where they live, as luck would have it). I felt for him, but I knew he'd handle it without a hitch! The rain would've been a deal breaker for me, though!

When we arrived at the shower, he asked me to run M in to potty to help him out when he'd have them all by himself shortly thereafter. She had such a hard time understanding why she couldn't come with me! It was an all-girl party, after all! While we were in the guest bathroom of this gorgeous house (with a mud room to die for, I might add!), she asked me again why she couldn't stay with me at the "baby wash". I laughed so hard on the inside! What a funny yet logical mistake. :0)

Admittedly, I have a love-hate relationship with showers, especially when I'm the honoree. All the cuteness and "oohing and ahhing" is sometimes too much; I'm not at all a girlie person in an emotional sense. When I'm hosting one, that's a different story. I can host a shower to beat the band! But this one was so fun. I love all of Nik's friends, and her sister and nieces were there from out of town, and her mom was there too, whom I adore! No cheesy games, no touchy-feely stuff. Just eating (and I LOVE shower foods!), chatting, opening presents, then the best part...CUPCAKES!

Which explains this photo of me and Nik. We're kindred spirits in the baked goods department. She was my college roommate for about 3 out of 5 years, and boy could I tell you some cake stories about us! Maybe sometime I'll blog about it...

I know I've got a long way to go in the post-partum weight loss department, but I cannot tell you how good it felt to be in non-maternity clothes again!! But I still can't wear any of my wedding rings, which makes me sad.

After the shower, J came to pick me up and ran "Stu" in the house so he could meet all the ladies briefly. It was quite a scene...us in the doorway, J holding him, asleep in his car seat, with 15+ women crowded around him in a semi-circle ogling all his sweet babyness. :0) I wish I would have taken a picture! His first groupies... HAHA!

We went back to his mom's house for a bit so he could feed Stu, and the girls got to play some more. They'd gotten some new coloring books, so Rosie sat on my lap and "read" her H*llo K*tty book to me. M stayed in the living room getting her cable kids' channel fix! We don't have cable, satellite or anything here. Poor deprived child!

We headed home, stopping only at S*nic once the children had fallen asleep so I could get my Diet cherry Coke. I'm so happy to be able to drink it again!! I've missed it.

At home we had a quick dinner, then J cut Rosie's hair for maybe the third time in her life. I love that he's their personal groomer--he always does their hair and nails! He makes me so proud.


Their traditional post-haircut photo. Because I make them do it every single time! See the shiner under Rosie's right eye? She fell the other day near J's recliner and hit her face against the armrest on her way down. Luckily, it's healing fairly quickly!

So often I find M snuggling with her baby brother, which I love. She's been a whole different big sister from her experience with Rosie! She wasn't quite so loving and nurturing when Little Sister arrived. I think maybe it's her age--that she's more mature now than she was at age two when Rosie came along.

She spent a good bit of Saturday evening sharing his Boppy pillow with him. I snapped a photo, and his little face turned out so cute!



J remarked that this is one for a future slide show for sure! And check out that onesie. It's a newborn size, but it sure does swallow up Brother Man! (Incidentally, it says "Mommy Rules". Good to know he's learning quickly!)

We weren't sure in the beginning if he was going to inherit J's large-shaped eyes or not, but after a few days we realized there was no doubt he did indeed. Hallelujah! I was hoping my children wouldn't get my tiny eyes. Rosie was the same way...it took hers a few days to get bigger, too.

M has her own sturdy childrens' digital camera that she uses all the time, but her favorite camera is ours. I let her take a few pictures last night, and most of them turned out pretty good! Here's her photo of Stu. Throwing gang signs, I guess?!


It was so nice to get out again, but exhausting all the same. And we were never able to get out the door on time with just two children. Now that there are three, it's even worse! We have to work on that. I still get an overwhelmed feeling going out all five of us, and thinking about tackling three children by myself is very daunting to me. I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to tackle this head on as soon as J goes back to work, and I'm going to have to force myself to get out with all of them on my own so I can get used to it and develop my own routine. I need to get comfortable in that area, and the only way to achieve that is to make myself do it.

Wish me luck!

Three-ring circus

Yesterday, we made our debut as a family of five out and about! We went up to Plano to see my OB for my follow-up appointment. It was bittersweet. My last visit as an OB patient. Now I'm back to regular ol' once-a-year visits...forever and ever! And there's nothing fun or nostalgic about that! Ha! Regardless, I'll continue to love my OB and stay loyal to him. Even though he's a bit of a drive.

With that I have to ask...mom friends, did any of you go through some OB withdrawals after your babies were born like I do with each one? I seriously go through a little bit of a mourning period after I have children. I'm so used to seeing my doctor and his fabulous nurses so often during pre-natal care, and I love them all like crazy.

Is that weird? Too much information? Like a drastic haircut under the influence of post-partum hormones, I went and said it.

While I'm on a roll with the honesty...

Because I'm a textbook parent, my Rosie is suffering the cliche characteristics of being the middle child. For instance, we never sent birth announcements out for her. We even failed to have a first birthday bash for her (gasp!). I know--I'll forever feel terrible about that one. We also forgot to have her photo taken with my OB when she was born. So I tried to make up for it at my appointment yesterday.

We had to do it this way. We didn't even try to have him hold her--she wouldn't have stood for that! She's not one to let anyone else hold her but me and J. So we got the whole clan in a shot with him. But I thought it turned out cute!

I also think the photo is funny in all the income each child represents for him! Ha!

After my appointment, we had the crazy idea to go out to lunch, all five of us. J let me choose, of course, so we ended up at Gazeebo Burger. I've officially eaten their food three times in one week! I requested it twice in the hospital. I do not know what it is with me and the cheeseburger, but I cannot get enough of them lately! And their fries are really, really good, too. I usually only eat their food when I'm in the hospital having a baby. That's going to have to change!

My, oh my...what an experience! I had thoughts of a three-ring circus running through my head. And I don't feel like J and I spoke one word to each other. We were too busy watching children!

I experienced a few waves of internal panic and thoughts of "How on earth am I going to go anywhere with three children alone?!" But I have to remember to take it slowly. And this stage is not going to last forever! One day I'll yearn to be back here.

Side note. A grandmother stopped by our table to comment on how cute Stu is, and she asked how old he is. J answered one week. And we totally got THE LOOK. I could see the judgment all over her face. I'm pretty sure she thought we were the worst parents ever! I wanted to go back to her table and explain that this was the only place we'd probably go all week. But I held myself back. I just thought it was a funny little occurence.

On our way home, J commented to me how cute M was in her new third-row seating assignment, looking like such a big girl studying her book. I caught her on film. (Though much to her dismay. J told me she cut her eyes up at me over her book each time I snapped the camera. She hates to have her photo taken lately!)


The book kept her occupied almost all the way home! She was quiet for the most part, speaking up only to make comments about the book or ask questions about the pictures.

She's still all into dressing herself these days, but she's added accessories to her repertoire this week. She often wears several bracelets and necklaces at one time. Again, I'm learning to let go in that area too. It could be worse!

So, a slightly chaotic entry into a fairly low-key weekend for us. Hope yours is great!

So much to say...but here are a few photos in the meantime

It's not that I don't have anything to blog about. I've got material for days, trust me! It's more that I just can't filter/process it all at this point. Right now, I'm just dying to go to bed! Today was busy and tomorrow's not going to be any better. We're hitting the ground running as a new family of five!

So to satisfy the OCD in me that needs to post something every day, or at least more frequently than once a week, I'll post some quick photos. Everyone likes photos, right?! I know it's semi-cheating, but bear with me...

Here's my little man all grumpy-faced mid-week this week.


And who can blame him? He'd been chilling peacefully in his Boppy, enjoying the quiet while J took the girls to M's ballet class. Until "The Sisters" returned home and of course made a beeline for him!

Ironically, his daddy makes the same face when his naps are interrupted!

It was quite the scene. They both ran to him, laid on the floor next him with their heads on either side of the pillow, and began to touch him and talk to him. Then M began to read to him!

Get used to it, my dear...I assume with two older sisters that peace and quiet doesn't happen very often!

Yesterday J took him to his pedi for a quick follow-up appoinment. It's sooner than the average newborn, but the hospital pedi recommended the visit since he had some initial concerns about Stu's eating. But all is well now--the potential problem has worked itself out!

Here's my precious boy right after his bath, looking sharp just before J took him to the doctor:

And speaking of my man, I hear him calling me now for his evening meal! Like clockwork.

At some point, I promise I'll give you a run-down of the big birthday. I can't believe it was a week ago already! At this time last week, I was in the hospital still on an epidural, seeing off the last visitors of the night if I remember correctly.

I'm sure I'll say it millions of times in his lifetime, but where has the time gone?!

"Last"ing memories

I tried not to dwell on it, but Thursday of last week was my last official day as solely a "girl mom"! But I did try to savor every moment.

My mother came to "babysit" me again, but she had to work for a couple of hours that morning. So we had a little bit of alone time before she arrived, just me and my girls.

What a pleasant surprise that morning to see one of our bunnies on our patio again!

We see them pretty frequently, but this one was special since it was a tiny little thing. The girls weren't near the window when I spotted him, so I whispered to them to go look out the window to see who was visiting. He was right up at the glass, nose-to-nose with them, and he never even flinched! Rosie got such a kick out of him--usually she's napping when one appears. She kept waving to him and saying "Hi-eeee!" rather loudly. (This is a new pastime for her--shouting hi and bye to everyone, whether she knows them or not!) He didn't get scared off until brilliant me decided to throw some lettuce out the door when he stepped away from the door. The girls were so sad to see him run off, but I was just trying to keep him occupied close to the door so they could watch him eat! Oh well...the best of intentions.

Grandma came in time for lunch, and I decided to let the girls pick where she brought it from. Of course, their five-star restaurant of choice, the golden arches, won out. (I'll go ahead and say it. I never thought I would, but I'm a little McDonald's-ed out lately! They seriously want to eat it for every meal.)

Grandma always gets them McD's sugar cookies. Rosie has a funny habit of not really biting into things...she sort of sucks on them until pieces happen to break off. I thought she looked so cute all covered in cookie.



Our house is very small, there are not many windows, but I love all the daytime light that streams into our living room and dining room. So I take a lot of mealtime photos during the day!


OK, so I get a tad carried away sometimes. Think of how my children feel! Ha!

We hung out at home all day, and for once I spent most of the day off my feet! No projects...no sneaking in housework. My BP felt a little bit high, maybe because I was getting a little anxious about Friday's delivery, so I decided to take it easy.

*****
J got home at a decent hour, and he treated me to dinner out for my "last meal" before I had to stop eating and drinking before my c-section. And I weasled a trip to Target out of him, too. I needed deodorant and one more gift for the girls to receive while we were in the hospital (They came to visit us each day, and each day we gave them a small gift--some sort of activity to do while they were there with us. Little did we know they wouldn't need it. Baby Brother was all the entertainment they wanted!)
*****
Guess what my meal of choice was? LUBY'S! Crazy, huh? I've always loved eating there, but I've really become a fan of our neighborhood location because it's so kid-friendly. I love to take the girls there even when J's not with us! We usually go on the reduced-price kids' meal night, they serve you there so I don't have to get up, and we totally have "our waiter" who we always look for and sit in his section! He's so good to us. And the girls love eating there. The balloons don't hurt, either!
*****
My Rosie with her daddy. (I took a photo of M too, but it didn't upload properly for some reason!)


Normally I get the fish and tartar sauce, but that night I had to consider what sort of foods I least want to throw up the next day in the off chance I did throw up. I decided throwing up tartar sauce wouldn't be a really good thing, so I opted instead for chicken fried steak. (Cream gravy surely can't be THAT bad coming back up, can it?! HA!)


Seriously...have you ever tried CFS at Luby's? I think theirs is my favorite!

Recently we ate there with Papaw Dees, and he got cheesecake for dessert. He was kind enought to share it with me, and it was hands down one of the best I'd eaten. I crave it all the time! I don't usually get dessert when we eat there, but I decided I deserved it that night. So when I got to the desserts, I found myself faced with a dilemma. Get the cheesecake, or get this:

Cream cheese cake, they told me it's called. I opted for this. Know why? It was a much bigger piece than the cheesecake they had out! And OH MY...it was heavenly. J loved it for the graham cracker crust. Can you see it, people? It's on the BOTTOM and the TOP!

Papaw Dees, we HAVE to go there soon and split a slice! Or heck...we'll EACH get a slice. :0)

We ended up out way too late shopping at Target. We got home at about 9, bathed the girls, then spent a long night finishing packing.

While J was getting their bath ready, the girls hopped up on our bed for a little snuggle.



I LOVE these children. They love each other so much! I pray that they'll be lifelong friends as well as sisters.

I don't think we made it to bed before 2AM. Par for the course...I think we did the same thing with each of the girls the night before they were born, too! But as J pointed out, we probably wouldn't have been able to sleep, anyway. :0)

I cannot believe it's almost been a week already. What a whirlwind! Funny...I'm about to sign off and hit the hay at about the same time I did that night. I guess some things never change! Except this time me or J will be getting right back up soon to feed the newest little member of our family.

Happy Mother's Day to me...

On Friday, we arrived as the parents of two children...

(And Sarah O., this photo's especially for you per your request. I don't normally allow preggy photos of me!)

At 12:56 PM, we became parents of three!


We are so blessed to announce the healthy, safe arrival of the newest member of our family:

J.D. "Stu" Dees
6 lbs. 13 oz.
18 1/2 inches
dark brown hair (lots!)
blue eyes

We're doing well; just getting settled in and getting to know one another!

More updates to come!

Pressing in

It's been a week of contradictions!

Grief over what's not gotten accomplished around the house since I've been ordered off my feet...

...yet relief that I've had to stay off my feet thereby forced to sit back and enjoy my girls. It's been a blessing in disguise!

The occasional propensity toward sadness that it won't ever be just "me and my girls" again (just like I experienced when Rosie was born)...

...yet this time around the desire to replace those feelings and instead press in fully to the excitement of a new addition to our family!

A wistfulness that I'll have to alter my phrasing from "my girls" to "my children"...

...balanced with the knowledge that I'll soon be able to call a fellow human being "my son". (I've always envied moms of boys for that reason! There's something so special about the word "son".)

And a whole host of other emotions! But these are the major ones.

In these days leading up to our third child's arrival, I can't help but wax sentimental about the births of our first two babies.




Me and Miss M, Saturday, October 22, 2005. I've never considered myself maternal at all, but that all changed the moment my doctor held this little beauty over my curtain for me to see her for the first time. I'm not a big cryer, but I immediately burst into tears when my maternal switch suddenly flipped and I fell in love with a complete stranger all in the same moment.

J, Rosie and me, Thursday, November 29, 2007. This photo is so special to me because not only is it my first glimpse of her, but she'd been crying just before J brought her to me. Once he put her in front of me and I began to talk to her, she immediately stopped and just stared at me! I guess I should say we stared at each other. I could describe every detail of both of our girls' newborn faces!

And in the very near future, we'll add another (final) shot just like these!

(Thanks to my anesthesiologists for taking these photos after each of the births. Who knew they were so multitalented?!)

We'll keep you posted as his arrival draws near!

Taking it in

Today we had our last OB check-up before "Stu" arrives this week. Everything checked out--my BP was on the high-but-not-alarming side. I've lost three pounds since last week. Some c-section site pain I've been experiencing is nothing to worry about apparently--it's simply uteran stretching. I'm all scheduled for my delivery. Things are looking great!

We'd planned for me to go it alone the rest of the day since it would only be a few hours between J going back into the office and the time he'd be leaving in the evening (including the girls' naptime). But my mother had to go and call while we were on our way home to see if we needed her, and J set her up to come over and babysit me again when the girls awoke. He just won't let me catch a break! Ha!

My firstborn in the backseat while we were en route to the doctor. I had to snap a photo...I thought she was looking particularly sassy:
My three favorite people in our wonderful doctor's waiting room before our very last OB check-up:

After we ate lunch, the girls were playing so well together that I put them down for their nap later than normal since they were having so much fun and I was enjoying watching them interact. M was holding Rosie's hands and dancing with her, and they also played a few rousing rounds of "Ring Around the Rosie".

These days in my "last-few-days-as-a-girl-mom" fits of nostalgia, I spend a lot of time standing back and just taking my daughters in. And this week has been perfect in that respect--they are being so kind and loving to one another and having so much fun together! Maybe it's the age that they're at...I don't know. But it makes me so happy to see what I pray is a lifelong friendship unfold! And I really do feel blessed to have to stay off my feet in this respect. If it weren't for those orders, I might be focusing too much on the to-do list and missing out on these memories.

I can't begin to accurately describe it, but every moment with them is just sweeter these days. Their laughter is so musical to me, and I'm doing all I can to soak it in and memorize it. Everything we do is more special and memorable to me than ever. Every hug, kiss, spontaneous cuddle and "I love you" makes melt on the inside like none other. I am one blessed woman.

Dancing and Ring Around the Rosie:

Playing outside with Grandma. She's their hero because she lets them get as messy as they want to! (This, by the way, was my view from the couch through the patio door. And dig M's old-school play clothes ensemble she put together. Those shorts are ones we normally reserve for her to wear under dresses. And they're size 12 mos. She's THREE AND A HALF!)

Rosie taking a Sprite slush break:

A load of surrealism

Today, my mother came over to babysit me while I "stay off my feet as much as possible". The girls love hanging out with Grandma, so they were just a tad excited to have her with them all day. She came as soon as she could after work at about 10AM, and during breakfast M wasn't too happy with me for some reason or another. She lowered her head at me at one point, cut her eyes and said, "I'm ready for Grandma to get here." She was seriously done with me!

It was a good day--lots of laughter. I ended up with stickers covering my huge baby bump (ok, baby mound!) by the end of the day. (Courtesy of Grandma's treat bag when she arrived.) I meant to take a picture, but I forgot.

I did get up and do a few little things here and there, including folding some laundry while I was laying on the couch. You don't usually think of laundry as being surreal, but this particular load of the girls' clothes was. Because peppered among all the pink was:
hints of BLUE!! Crazy! I did a double-take at first.

We've received all kinds of cute boy clothes, blankets, bibs, hats, burp bloths, etc., but it was only this week that I washed a few pieces in preparation for his arrival. I'm being conservative with this--while I'm certain that he IS actually a boy, I have three or four girlfriends who were prepared to welcome boys into the world too, only to find out that their babies were actually girls. So we'll wash everything once we get home and settled. But we have enough essentials to get us started.

While surreal and a little hard to believe, the sight really made me excited. I just cannot WAIT to fill these sweet little outfits with a little boy to cuddle and love!

Mom, interrupted

Can I just say what a super-stud husband I have? Holding down this fort for us while I'm "off my feet as much as possible" till "Stu" arrives late this week, yet running into the office to get some work done whenever he can (i.e. naptimes) and telecommuting in the evenings after he gets the rascals to bed. The man is invaluable, and I love him immeasurably. Watching him gives me just a taste of what single working parenthood must feel like, and I have a new respect!

The girls are napping right now, so he snuck off to the office for a couple of hours. Yes, I'm on the computer, which means I'm not laying down, but I'll have you know that my feet are totally propped up! So I'm not cheating. Nope!

Some observations I've made these last few days (in no particular order) while being forced to allow someone else to do everything for me:

-I REALLY wish we'd invested in an internet-accessible laptop when we've had the chances in the past. It's so frustrating not being able to hop online whenever I want to since we only have a desktop! And boy could I do some serious blogging, internet shopping, catching up on email correspondence, etc. on the couch...

-I feel very uncomfortable not being able to get up and do whatever I want when I want.

-Allowing someone else to do housework/chores for me makes me twitch. (OK, so this is not new to anyone. But it's worth repeating!) I have a total "no one does it better than me" complex!

-It's really interesting what's priority to some husbands versus what's priority to me. For instance, J totally has no qualms about going to bed without having done the dishes, cleaning the table or sweeping the dining room floor after dinner. While I, on the other hand, can't even leave the kitchen after dinner without doing all of that! I used to think maybe men were simply lazy, but this weekend has really opened my eyes to the fact that they just don't see things like this as a priority! They have a totally different mindset than we do. It would eat away at me as a man to have left that all undone, but I truly don't think J gives it another thought. (As a follow-up, he did finally do all of the dishes and all that while me and the girls ate lunch today. What a dreamboat!)

-I'm learning that pansies begin to kick the bucket about this time of year. When I'm finally able, I'm going to replace mine with petunias! My petunias are really taking off, which makes me insanely happy. (I know this because I get to spend a lot of time on the couch looking out the window at my patio container garden.)

-Having to ask someone else for so much as a glass of water makes me cringe.

-I'm going to just have to let go of a lot of the house projects I wanted to get done before Stu arrives this week. There's simply not enough J to go around.

-I desperately need a haircut, a mani and a pedi before Stu arrives, but I may just have to live without them. I doubt my drill sergeant--I mean husband--will let me out to get that done! Haha!

-My hair has grown a lot over the last few weeks, and it's gotten a really weird, droopy, wiry texture for some reason now! Not much volume to speak of. For some reason with each child my volume has decreased, so after this one I may lose all my hair! Ha!

-It's been nice to catch up on some reading.

-There's not much on regular TV on the weekends.

-Sitting around in front of the TV for a long time makes my head feel like mush.

-Sitting down all day makes me a LOT more tired at the end of the day than my normal pace does. By 9PM I've been ready to hit the hay! So weird to me. But maybe it's a blessing to be able to catch up on sleep before Little Man comes?

-Snuggling with my girls reading books has always been and always will be one of my favorite activities!

-I keep thinking of recipes I want to research/try. Then I remember--Oh! I can't get up to cook!

-Rainy weather can get me down even if I don't have plans to go anywhere.

-I really wish I'd taken the time to pull weeds while I had the chance...our front yard and walkway look scary! (As if newborn Stu's going to care, right?!)

-I can still be productive while off my feet. Folding laundry, filing papers, making lists, planning with my calendar, catching up on phone calls, etc...

-When I'm stuck off my feet, I can think of lots of stuff that needs to be done around the house. And projects I want to start. Ack!

-It's kind of nice to be able to send my man out with whichever girl's not napping with a list to go run all of my errands. :0) THAT part I can let someone else do, no problem! It's such a beating to get kids in and out of a car to make quick errand stops.

-For the first time in our life together, I may resign myself to letting the dry cleaners press my man's work clothes for this week. THAT, my friends, is a hard pill for me to swallow!

-Want to really torture me? Buy me the Shark steam floor cleaner I've been wanting while I'm not allowed to get up and use it! I asked J last night if he'd please steam-clean one of our linoleum floors so I could at least see it in action. :0)

-Regardless of where I am or what restrictions are placed upon me, I can still enjoy my family, make memories and most importantly...TAKE PICTURES! Here are my darlings rough housing yesterday:

It's been so fun to be forced to sit back and watch J take over and just be Dad 24/7. There was so much he needed to do work-wise this weekend given TAKS testing last week, plus wrapping up his work to prepare for a few-week "maternity" leave break with us and all that entails, but he chose to be home with us every second he could so he could take care of us. I've loved being the spectator this weekend. J and the girls have such a deep, sweet love for each other, and it's been a lovely sight to behold. So even though I'm technically out of the game until Stu arrives, there are still sweet memories to be made!

*****

Praise God that His plans are far better than mine.

Staying sane, one little project at a time

For the most part, I've been a good girl and stayed off my feet this weekend. With my eagle-eye husband home all weekend, it's hard to sneak in any activity! :0) But every now and then, I treat myself to a quick little baby-prep project, like yesterday's:

I opened a new package of diapers in anticipation of re-entering the "sweet newborn diaper phase" for what will probably be the last time. (Which I try not to think about! Sniff!)

Oh, my did I indulge in the moment. This brand is my absolute favorite...everything about it! The tiny size, the softest material in "diaperdom", the sweetest baby scent it comes built-in with...

Forgive my hand! Doesn't look like I'll be able to get out for a final mani before Stu arrives, and my hands are normally red and dry anyway from OCD washing. But add in the Swine Flu factor, and they're out of control! I can't even fit into any of my wedding rings anymore. This one was actually a ring my daddy bought me in high school that I used to wear on my middle finger before I got married. It's absolutely the only one that fits now! Thank goodness my beloved everyday pearls know no gold or silver distinctions, right?! I typically wear white gold.

I even took a picture of myself sniffing these cute little fragrant diapers, but I saved you from having to look at it by not posting it!



I got our changing table diaper basket all stocked for Stu. Rosie's diapers are on the left, Stu's teeny tiny ones are on the right.

And then I got our mini-changing station basket ready for our master bedroom. This little basket will go under Stu's cradle in our room once J gets it put together this week.

I wish all pregnancies came with as prepared a feeling as the subsequent children! The second and third rounds have been a piece of cake so far! It's so fun to know what to expect and especially to really have a handle on what works and what doesn't, what you like and don't like. It's such a reassuring feeling to kind of halfway know what you're doing!

Of course, once said bundle of joy arrives, it takes a good several weeks to find your new "normal". But at least the last weeks leading up to the arrival are somewhat smoother!

Unless you're told to stay off your feet as much as possible for your final pregnancy. This is a new one for me! Talk about being thrown for a loop. So far so good, but I'm still not a fan! :0)

I don't like this one bit!

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."
~Proverbs 19:21

These last few months have not at all gone as I'd planned. In about a week, we're welcoming Baby Boy ("Stu", as M has referred to him since day one!) to our fold, and I'd planned to have an action-packed month of memory-making with just us Dees Girls. Trips to the library for story time...a trip to our local strawberry farm to go picking...a trip to our local tractor store to go hold the Spring chicks...a stroll through the Arboretum...lunch at our Tea Room...play dates galore...photos in the bluebonnets...playing at all our local parks...lunch at the American Girl store at Galleria...just general fun, fun, FUN!

Not to mention all of the home projects I'd wanted to get finished before Stu arrives. Well, all the projects I had for J to finish, that is... Since he's a public school administrator, TAKS testing has taken up every moment of his time, so I've had to scrap that list for now.

(Maybe while he's home for a few weeks on his "maternity" leave...? There could still be hope!)

The rainy weather, my killer allergies and limited ability to medicate myself against them, plus one or the other of my daughters with a green snotty nose at some point or another pretty much scrapped our list o' fun things to do. Not to mention protecting ourselves against the Swine/H1N1 Flu hype. Normally we wouldn't take so much notice of this type of thing, but with a little one on the way in about a week, we feel like we have to be as defensive as we can against it.

And then my OB dropped a bomb on me this week: apparently I have high blood pressure right now.

His orders? Stay off my feet as much as possible until Stu arrives.

Excuse me?

No comprendo. (Or whatever that is in Spanish. I wouldn't know...I was a French minor.)

R. Dees doesn't really DO "staying off her feet".

So if there was any hope of getting out and doing fun stuff with my girls before Stu gets here, it's all gone now.

We're staying hunkered down around these parts for the next several days. And I'm forced to get creative finding ways to stay off my feet while simultaneously keeping a 3 1/2 year-old and a 1 1/2 year-old entertained! I think I like this after all...if there's anything I love, it's a good mothering challenge!

The upside? Most of our events/activities this week have been cancelled due to the Flu business, so it's not like we're missing out on much!

Let the good times at home begin...

Me and M reading a bedtime story and snuggling on the couch:
I'm so emotional these days. Any sweet moments I have with my girls, like this one below snuggling with my firstborn, turn into mental Hallmark commercials for me. I'm not a big public cryer, but trust me, I was sobbing on the inside at this instant:

The girls spent some time with Mama Landa this week, which has been a big help to me. I've been able to rest and also get a few little things done around the house.

*****

Here the girls are in our car before my doctor appointment this week. We were waiting for ML to arrive to pick them up, and M was enjoying a lollipop she scored from my purse. Rosie was content to play with the wrapper:

My guess is she's not going to stay content with wrappers for very long!

We don't have a laptop that I can access the internet on, which I really, REALLY long for at this point, so my posts may be scarce this week. I'll pop in when I can and share what we're up to!