5 Months

Blog Roll

I thought I would share some blogs (of friends) that I have been keeping up with lately.  Warning: They are not always happy reads.  Actually, a lot of the posts are downright heartbreaking but also a reminder to pray for these friends who at times are in the midst of deep suffering.  Thanks for checking them out.

Lindsy and William are in the process of adopting a little boy from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Read about their process and lots of good information on adopting at their blog which is Word From The Wallaces.  There are also ways to donate to their adoption fund on their site.

My friends from college, Molly and Kendrick, have a blog for their little girl.  They found out last month that their 4 year old daughter, Izzy, has stage 4 cancer.  Read more about her at Izzystory .

3 Little Ones List

People are always asking how it is with 3 kids and whether the transition from 1 to 2 was harder or 2 to3.  I don't know...it is all hard but kind of a good hard.  Parenting is hard...harder than you would ever expect but when I say it is the "good" kind of hard I mean...in the end I know it is making me a person who is more dependent on God and less dependent on myself.  So, here is my list of things that I have learned/realized since having three little ones:

1.  I am one of those "late" people now.  You know, the ones you can always count on showing up 15-60 minutes late.  Yep, that is our family.  Kind of humbling

2.  I cannot do it on my own. 

3.  Planning the night before is no longer a "good idea" it is a necessity if we are going to leave the house before noon.

4.  Breastfeeding is easier with number 3...or maybe I am just wiser/more laid back with him.

5. It is impossible to have a completely clean house.  The dishes may get done but the floor will not be swept.  The laundry may get washed and dried but it won't get put away.  C'est La Vie

6.  I can go to the grocery with all three of them but it has to be the exact right time of day...a couple hours before naptime for Telia, right after a feeding for Caius, and before 5 for Ruby.  So, 10:15 a.m. is sort of doable if I have a short list.

7.  I can go about 3 nights on little sleep before I completely melt down

8.  I have had to change how I do things like cooking.  It is really hard to find the time to meal plan.  Right now I am doing good to get a meal on the table that is half way healthy.

9.  Nothing beats those 3 smiles, 6 arms for hugs, and all the giggles I hear throughout the day

10.  God has equipped me to parent these three children no matter how much I doubt that day in and day out.

11.  My husband is also a really good Daddy to our 2 girls and our boy

Growing and Growing

Caius is growing and growing and changing everyday. I am trying to take his picture each month on this quilt my cousin made. The pictures with his white animal onesie on is from when he was 3 months old.

Here is our little UofL fan at 4 months. 

A Normal Summer Day

Photo Credit to Bill Laffin

Updates

Now is as good of a time as any to update my readers (all 5 of them) on the happenings in our life since Caius was born.

After we brought Caius home from the hospital we had a few bumps in the road.  First, he had jaundice (which has proven to not be uncommon for our kids) and had to have the light blanket.  We were sooo thankful to have the blanket instead of the light bed that our girls had. Remember when Telia was in it and when Ruby was 2 years before her?  The difference this time was that we could hold Caius all we wanted and still have the lights working on his jaundice.

One week to the day after I went to the hospital to have Caius I was re-admitted to the hospital for high blood pressure.  Evidently, you can have pre-eclampsia AFTER you give birth.  Who knew?  I actually didn't have it but that was because the doctors were so great and took every precaution to make sure that I didn't.  So, this was not fun.  I got to take Caius with me to the hospital and our parents took care of our girls but I really felt horrible.  I had the worst headache of my life and stayed in the hospital on magnesium until Monday.  They finally found the right combination of meds to bring my blood pressure down and sent me home.  I had to monitor my blood pressure for a few weeks and take medication for a few weeks.  Usually pregnancy related illnesses resolve themselves after 6 weeks and thankfully this followed that course. 

In the middle of all of this we moved.  We are so fortunate to have a beautiful home with lots of space, a yard, garage, and a garbage disposal (just to name a few of the amenities).  We closed in March and it was a nail biting experience that we don't won't to go through again for a long long time.  We didn't know if we were going to actually close on our house in KY until an hour before the scheduled time.  In the end it all worked out.

We started attending Sojourn New Albany and have found a great community group already.

We had a couple of house guest...My brother Joe with his 3 kids and one of their friends...also, Brian's parents.  We found a good deal on a bed so if you want to visit let me know cause we have a place to put you now!

We went to IKEA with all the kids and my parents and came out alive and came home with some new stuff for our house.

Brian got a promotion to Sr. Systems Engineer because he is awesome!  We haven't gotten to celebrate yet because he has been working so much..isn't it ironic.

The kids are great.

Telia talks and talks and talks and we love it!  She is starting to exert her will a little more which is to be expected since she is 2 years old.  She got allergy testing last week and is allergic to cats plus other stuff although we won't find out the "other stuff" until she is older.  She has pretty bad eczema which is why we got her tested.

 Ruby is finishing up her first year in a Pre K program in Louisville.  We have been on the look out for a new program for next year in Indiana and think we found one today.  She has been super helpful lately.  She gets excited to help with the dishes, cleaning up her room and play area, and likes to vacuum.  She really is starting to show more maturity.  This week she is learning about the Kentucky Derby at school and has even learned to words to My Old Kentucky Home.  We also made a derby hat for their celebration at school.

 

Caius is giving us lots of smiles and a couple of chuckles.  He has been the most laid back baby that I have had.  He is so happy and only complains when he is tired or hungry...or maybe when Momma isn't holding him.  He has eczema too so I have been eliminating things from my diet to see if anything helps. That is no fun.

2 months

Caius turned 2 months old on April 18th. Here are a few pictures of him on a beautiful quilt that my cousin Jessica made for him.