Sisters and Snow

We've had a few snow days within the last couple of weeks. I would say it's so random and  crazy for the month of March in Texas, but most of the country has had huge snowstorms as well.

The girls of course love to see it and play in it. I enjoy watching from inside, but thankfully Jason is willing to go out in the wet cold and build snowmen with them. By the end of it they understood that they needed to dress warmly for mommy to let them out, but the first day they went out while I was in the shower and I came out to find Maddie wearing a short-sleeved dress, socks on her hands, boots on her feet, and nothing else! The snow and ice days meant lots of at home work days for Jason, which is always nice.

Daddy taught the girls that they could hold baby Clara. I had been avoiding this very thing because I knew it would lead to unsupervised holding and nonstop requests to hold her. I can't deny it's cute to see my babies holding my baby. The picture of Madison holding her really makes Clara look big, but I think it's just the angle. Madison usually looks like a giant compared to Clara and Clara is a tiny little thing.

Clara
Clara just had her 4 month checkup. Here are her stats:

• 10 lb 9.5 oz (10th percentile)
• 23 1/4"length (10th percentile)
• 15 3/4" head (25th percentile)

See. Tiny little thing. I still have her wearing some of her newborn clothes and some of her 3 month clothes are still to big for her to wear.

 I can already tell that Clara loves her big sisters. I've mentioned this before. She especially loves Callie because Callie shows great interest in her and always wants to be a part of what Clara's doing. I'm hoping as she gets older (and after Maddie gets over the frustration of Clara wanting to play with her toys) that those two will become best buddies, especially since Callie will be starting school in August.

Callie
As school gets closer and closer, I find myself getting so anxious about Callie starting school. With her being so sensitive, I worry about other kids teasing her or her getting upset and not being comfortable enough to talk to her teacher about it. I worry about her being sad at school and missing being at home. I worry about the things she doesn't know yet. I worry about her being the youngest in her grade and being behind the other kids. I worry about the negative things she will see and hear from the other kids. The list goes on and on.

But. We took her to kindergarten roundup at her school last week and a lot of those worries were lessened as I saw how ridiculously excited she is about starting school. She was a little quiet and shy at first, but she left the school skipping and grinning ear to ear exclaiming, "this is the perfect school for me!" It made me so excited for her to start school. She will be just fine and I think she will really like school.

Daddy Date

Jason likes to take the girls on Daddy Dates every once in a while. I love that he takes the time to spend time with them one on one and to make them feel special. The girls love it too. Jason is taking Callie to the Dallas Symphony's Disney concert this Friday night, so he took Madison on her own Daddy Date last night.

Madison 

Madison has always been a momma's girl, but she was especially that way during this last busy season when Jason was not home as much. She didn't want him to do anything for her and she would throw huge fits anytime he tried. In an effort to help the situation, he started taking her on regular Daddy Dates. The first one he took her on she didn't want to go and just talked about going home to mommy during her date, but after that she warmed up to them and to him.


Last night on their date he took her to get ice cream and then to Target to look at baby dolls (a favorite Daddy Date activity enjoyed by both girls). Jason told me about her running down the aisles calling for him to follow her and look at various things. She found a bouncy ball and threw it a long ways down the aisle (and even hit an unsuspecting passerby), she tried on hats, and she found DVD's of her favorite shows. As Jason described it, I could picture her big smile and feel her energy as she ran down the aisles excitedly showing her daddy everything.

That's how Madison approaches life. With a big smile and lots of energy and passion. She dives headfirst into everything she does with no reservations. Frequently her hugs come after running full-force at her intended target. She loves to put her hands on my cheeks and pull  my face to hers to give her a big kiss, lips to lips. (Because of my germ-a-phobia and disinterest in getting whatever is on their little mouths on mine, I don't usually kiss my kids on the lips. I usually kiss their foreheads or cheeks, but Maddie demands more from me.)

Love. Joy. Passion. Energy. Determination. Fearlessness. Those are some words I use to describe Madison.

Prayers and Bandaids

Callie
Most of Callie's prayers are short and usually include little more than blessing our food (whether or not we're eating) and blessing some of our family members to sleep and be safe. This morning, as we drove Jason to the train station, Callie said her longest prayer yet. Here are some of the things and people she prayed for:

• All 5 of her preschool friends by name.
• Each of her family members.
• Characters from some of her favorite shows including Queen Elsa, Anna, Nemo, and Dory.
• Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
• Everything to be normal.
• Our food to stay in our tummies.
• Her friend's family members to feel better who are currently ill.
• Several of the planets including Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn

Although lifeless planets and TV show characters aren't something you need to pray for, it was a really thoughtful prayer and she was quite serious about it all.

......................................

Callie doesn't handle pain very well. Not many 4 year olds do, but she gets so consumed by her pain. She started off the day yesterday with sore heals (her everyday pair of shoes started hurting within the past few days) and a light scrape on her hand on its 3rd bandaid. That morning she threw a fit in her room about something and unknowingly cut her knee. A while later I saw her knee bleeding and when I pointed it out to her, she was instantly in a world of hurt. Several minutes after that, as she was complaining about all of her injuries, she started complaining that her fingers hurt too badly to touch anything. I inspected her fingers and found small blisters on about 4 of them. I have no idea how that happened. Her friend TJ came over to play for a couple of hours, but she wouldn't even play because she couldn't get past all of the pain she was feeling. She wouldn't even touch the toys because of her fingers and spent almost his entire visit complaining and crying.

Aside of her being a typical, dramatic 4 year old girl, I realized yesterday that this girl feels deeply. She gets that from her momma. It goes further than scrapes and blisters. She is frequently wrapped up in emotion. I mentioned before that she is really sensitive to other people and their feelings. She also has such a tender heart. The ability to feel deeply can be a curse or a blessing, but I hope in time she will learn how to use it as a way to help others by empathizing, perceiving needs, and touching hearts with her loving and kind soul.

It's a Beautiful Life

Although I have struggled with many things lately that come with adding a third child, I can't help but feel so grateful for the beautiful life I have. There are times when I can simply observe what's going on and drink in the beauty of my family. I had one of those times on Sunday. I wish I could remember the details better, but I was sitting on my bed, surrounded by the ones I hold dear, just watching them interact and seeing them through different eyes. Too often I see them through the eyes of a tired, overwhelmed mother and they just seem to constantly demand many things from me, draining me of physical, mental, and emotional energy. But on those special occasions when I see them from a different perspective I can see what wonderful, sweet, talented little people they are. I am filled with love and awe and gratitude in those moments.

Clara

My newest little babe has suffered with acid reflux. She is on medication for it, which does help a great deal, but there are still times she is in pain and is uncomfortable. This has brought some difficult nights, frustrating nursing sessions, and lots of crying. When she is comfortable she is incredibly happy and sweet. Her smile is amazing and contagious. I love staring into her eyes and imagining who she was in her premortal life and who she will become in our family.

Clara is 3 months old now. Part of me feels like she's been with us much longer than that, but another part of me feels like it was just yesterday that I was eagerly anticipating her arrival. I think Callie is her favorite person (aside of her Mommy, of course). She loves to watch Callie and be with her. Callie is often able to sooth Clara's cries just by being near her or singing to her.

With each baby, I love the baby stage more and more. I love how innocent they are. Not going to lie, I love that she can't talk yet and hence can't engage in sister-drama yet. Her life is still so simple. She doesn't care what clothes I put on her, she doesn't argue about the food she's fed (except when she has reflux pains), she can't come out of her room at night to avoid going to bed, she doesn't care what toys she has or doesn't have. Yes, transitioning from 2 to 3 kids has been very challenging, but I am enjoying all of these perks that come with her age, because all too soon I will have 3 little girls that all want their way and have to have their say. :)

When I grow up...

Wow. It has been almost a year since I last posted on my blog! I didn't realize it had been that long. I'm not even going to try to catch up, but I would like to start blogging again. I want to remember all of the little things about this time of life with my kids. I've found it's too easy to forget.

Callie
A couple of weeks ago at preschool, the teacher asked each of the kids what they want to be when they grow up. I knew what Callie has said she wants to be, but I was curious to see if that desire would hold up when she had to share that in a group setting or if she would be swayed. The kids before her said they wanted to be a doctor, a dentist, a superhero. Then the teacher asked Callie. Callie sat up a little taller and confidently stated, "I want to be a mommy." I was so proud of her in that moment! Proud that she did not get caught up in the flashy and exciting answers of her peers.

For a while now she has been telling me she wants to be a mommy when she grows up. I am sometimes surprised that with everything she sees and experiences, that's her heart's desire. A lot of the past year I have not felt like a very good mom. While I was pregnant I was so moody, sick, and tired. Many times my kids did not see my best self. Since having Clara, making that hard adjustment that occurs after each new baby, I have often been at wits' end. I am frequently completely overwhelmed and often lose my patience.

While trying to get Clara back to sleep in the wee hours of this morning, I came across a pin on Pinterest with the caption "Are you a builder or a bulldozer?" I instantly felt awful about all the times lately I have been more of a bulldozer to Callie. I kept blaming all of her poor behavior on her, but I think I am the root of the problem. As happens frequently as a mother, I will just have to move forward from this point, working toward change with the help of my Savior. I'm still learning how to be a mother to my children and I don't know that that learning is ever done.

Despite all of that, I am so glad that Callie is learning the importance of motherhood at such a young age. Part of it is also her personality. She is naturally very nurturing. She is intuitive and compassionate. I am so amazed by the person she already is and the person she is becoming.

Snow Day

We woke up this morning to our first snow of the winter. Callie was beyond excited. It was all she could think about and talk about all morning, as I struggled to get her ready for preschool. After preschool and some lunch, we went outside to play.

 Here's my silly little Baby Snowman. The snow was really hard to work with, so it was all I could manage. He was big enough to please the girls, though.

And yes, these pictures were taken in our b-a-c-k-y-a-r-d since we bought a house! (More on that to come.)

Callie's Story

Yesterday, Callie woke up in an unusually good mood. She began telling a story. I'm not sure if it was something she dreamed or made up, but it was pretty cute. I typed it mostly so I could save it, but I thought I'd share it here too.

First, here are a few explanations so you understand her story a little better:
-I made several tissue paper pom poms (she calls them flowers) for a baby shower I recently hosted. Jason remarked the other day that they were a fire hazard and asked if I was going to take them down anytime soon. I hung a couple of small ones in Callie's room.
-We have told Callie that Daddy works so we can pay for our things.

I saw my flowers. They're still on. Fire didn't come out but it did a little bit.  Fire has wheels but it didn't see me. I hid my hands under me so the fire can't see them. 

Someday I'm going to get lights up on my wall. Daddy's work will pay for it. 

Someday I have more lights. Like five lights, with my windows open. And a crib to walk to put my baby in.

Kaden's at school right now. He's starting school with Adam. They're all starting schools.

After that...I didn't wake up. I just go back to sleep. Actually I have a problem. My baby cried a little bit but then she went back to sleep.

Tomorrow fire's going to come out again when it's late. Fire came out and get my Jammie's and come in my bed. (I don't see any fire). It did but it left. I see the fire when you're awake. 

And then after that the flowers were still on. After that. The end. 

Callie Turned 3!

Last month, we celebrated Callie's third birthday. Can you believe she's 3 already? I can't. She is growing up so fast. She's becoming more like a little girl and less like a toddler. Here's what we did on that special day:

 She woke up to birthday decorations that morning.

 Then we went a little out of order and opened presents.

 Her favorite was this doctor kit. A couple months before her birthday, her cousin Hailey introduced her to playing doctor and the Doc McStuffins show. After that, I would find her using old ID cards to play doctor with, so we got her a doctor kit of her own.

 She had her pancake breakfast, but that didn't last long before she was back to playing with her toys.

   Jason left for work and we headed on our usual walk, but today we brought bread to feed the ducks, fish, and turtles.

After our walk, we had a party with her friends at a nearby park. As you can tell by all the sweaty, red faces, it was very hot. One of my friends is a photographer and she took pictures at Callie's party for her present. I was so excited for the pictures and so grateful to not have to worry about taking pictures.

Callie's Friends (and their siblings)

Later, after Jason came home from work, the party continued with dinner, more cupcakes, and play time.

Girls' Cruise

Back in June, my Mom treated my sisters and I to a cruise in celebration of our college graduations. We left our kids home with our husbands (which was an adventure in itself). It was a much-needed break for all of us and it was so much fun! My awesome mother-in-law, who is a travel agent, specializes in cruises, so she found us the perfect cruise and helped us find a great beach in Cozumel.

We sailed on the infamous Carnival Triumph. In case you missed this story, back in February the Triumph had a fire in the engine room, leaving the cruise ship and its passengers stranded at sea for 5 days without power and with some serious plumbing issues.  I won't go into details about the conditions, but let's just say we were all relieved to hear that the ship had been completely renovated.

We had rooms with balconies, which we LOVED. It was so nice to have our own private little place to see the ocean. We even had the door between our balconies opened.

We all went on a cruise in 2008 with our families, and this Chocolate Melting Cake is what we dreamed about for years after. We made sure we had it every night on the cruise. We occasionally ordered another dessert to try, but this was always hands-down the best. 

We stopped in Cozumel, where we spent the day at a beach lounging, swimming, and playing on their water toys.

We had such a great time!

Summer

Busy season is upon us. Jason is working later now and has been working at night on weekends to lighten his load on weekdays. I feel bad that he usually works after I go to sleep until around midnight on weekends, but I'm so grateful during the week when he comes home at a decent hour.

The girls and I have been enjoying playing with friends and swimming! Jason likes to go swimming with us on Saturday's. Callie did not have very much swimming experience prior to this summer, but she's made some great progress, especially with Daddy's help. She started out with arm guards and a floaty ring in someone's arms or on the steps. Now, she just wears arm guards and can kick herself around the pool. We're working on blowing bubbles, but we still have work to do.

 

Madison, on the other hand, prefers to walk around the pool. She gets impatient in the pool and wants to do her own thing. I need to get her some arm guards or a life jacket so she can have more freedom in the pool.

Lately we've also had lots of birthday's, party, and fun trips. Stay tuned for posts on those!

Bow Holds and Headbands

 A while back, I posted this picture of Callie playing her "viola". If you'll notice, she's holding her "bow" in the wrong hand, her hand is halfway up her "bow" and she's just holding it in her fist.

Busy season is upon us. Jason is working later now and has been working at night on weekends to lighten his load on weekdays. I feel bad that he usually works after I go to sleep until around midnight on weekends, but I'm so grateful during the week when he comes home at a decent hour.Today, she grabbed her "viola" once again and said, "look at my bow hold, Mommy!" She is now holding it with her hand at the end of the "bow", and is holding it between her thumb and fingers. I was so impressed! This happened without any direct teaching on my part. I guess she actually learns something playing around in the same room while I teach my violin lesson every week. 

A couple of weeks ago, while working on rhythm with my student, Callie decided to clap and count along with us. She wasn't quite clapping on the beat, but she got the idea. It's amazing what a 3 year old can pick up just being exposed to music, and in this case teaching music to someone else.

Madison loves to wear this headband. Anytime she sees it laying around, she puts it on herself and wears it for a significant period of time. She won't wear any other headband I put on her for very long, but she likes this one.