Thatcher's Four Month Update

Let's see what I can report about baby T at four months. He had his four month appointment last week and weighed in at 16lb 5oz (71%) and was I think twenty five inches long. He also had a huge head, but you knew that already. He did not enjoy his four month shots. He turned into quite the little crab for a couple days. In reality he probably just became a normal four month old, occasionally wanting to be held/snuggled, but he seemed awfully needy to me. I have gotten quite use to my happy, easy baby. I had a nightmare that he woke up in the middle of the night and was up screaming for hours (not unlike his biggest brother). I woke up and had might have had a minor panic attack. In good news (knock on wood) he is still a great sleeper even though he can get out of his swaddle blanket at night.

Thatcher enjoys rolling over from his back to his belly then immediately gets angry once he figures out he's on his stomach. He spends a few minutes lifting his head up, looking around, them slamming it back into the ground. This grows old quickly, but not to worry big brothers quickly help turn him over. Thatcher also enjoys shoving his entire hand in his mouth until he gags himself, then repeats this all day long. He has begun to play with toys a bit this month and has lots of helpers constantly handing him different toys. In other exciting news this month Thatcher has found his little baby toes which are oh so fun to play with.

Speaking of his adorable toes we went to see the orthopedist today who told us that his clubbed feet aren't too terribly bad and that we really could just let him grow out of it. Apparently ninety eight percent of kiddos with feet like his, that are easily turned out when you stretch them, correct themselves by the age of three. He said wearing shoes more could help keep them straighter and stretching his little legs and feet might help as well but we don't have to cast them or anything crazy like I had been fearing.

This month we got a few more baby containment options. He now has a new exersaucer and we got down the high chair for one last go around. He enjoys both and I enjoy him being safe from his brothers stepping on him. As with most things in Thatcher's life he is perfectly happy, having a blast, right up until he's not. Then he'll start banging his tiny fists on things which I find absolutely hysterical.

Also pictured Dolares the duck. She's hands down all my boys favorite baby toy. He poor nose has been chewed on for hours by all our babies.

Our famous blue chair with the lion and panda, which I have a million pictures of his brother in, finally officially died this month so he has a new chair too! It was bought at the resale shop so matches all our vintage 2010 sea themed things!

Little Thatcher celebrated his first fourth of July this month and got to spend a lot of time at the lake relaxing. As the month went on it got too hot for little man to go outside very much. We're ready for color temperatures so we can get back outside soon.

 Thatcher's favorite person as of late has to be his big brother Zane. Zane can always make him smile and when Zane is around Thatcher only has eyes for him. He watches him go everywhere. He's a very happy baby but doesn't always bring out the big smile/giggles for me, but pretty much always does for Zane. Zane is growing into an phenomenal big brother. He does well picking him up, rolling him over, making his bottles, holding him, and telling him all kinds of stories. Rowan is always a great big brother, but still losing interest in holding him pretty quickly.

Between his brother's wanting to hold him or play with him and the million other things I have to do to keep everything running I don't have a lot of time to snuggle little man by himself. Most of our cuddles look like this one, a big pile of boys on my body. But sometimes, after big brothers are asleep sweet Thatchy will fall asleep on my chest. This never happens during the day. He puts himself to sleep in his bed for naps, don't try to cuddle him to sleep, he won't have it. But sometimes at night this magical thing happens and then I end up holding him an hour soaking in all the baby goodness.

 

I could have a blog full of this exact picture in various locations around my house. I know I'm breathing rare air in these moments. I am painfully aware how quickly this phase will be over and how much I will desperately miss it, so I take a picture every time. Look at that darling little head.

 

 This was the day he got his four month shots. He wanted to be snuggles like a baby, it was amazing. I mean I hate that he didn't feel good, but I could stare into those baby blues all day.

In frustrating news somehow I don't have the right size clothes in the right season for my third boy. I cannot stomach the idea of having to buy clothes for this child, but after an exhaustive attic search, and near heat stroke, it became clear that I very well might have to. The summer clothes he's in now are almost too small. By the time Zane was this size, and Thatcher is definitely a Zane body type, it was fall/winter. Which means be fall/winter Thatcher will be too big for Zane's clothes. My solution to this, rationalizing buy thirty dollar super soft rompers with panda bears on them, because I obviously need it!  

So time continues to fly by and Thatcher continues to be the easiest, most magical little guy. It's been a pretty boring month, but this little guy has made it much more entertaining. He loves watching his brother's play. He will tell them stories and kick about wanting to be part of the fun. He's so chill and handle all the craziness of this house so well. I am beginning to worry how Zane is going to handle not spending all day with his baby T when he goes back to school. That's definitely going to be a big adjust for everyone in the upcoming month.

Books, Books, and More Books

A week or so ago it became clear that my children were losing their minds. By losing their minds I mean they had begun to think that possibly they were in charge and the rules no longer applied to them. Obviously Zach and I are to blame for letting things get out of hand. I'm guessing somewhere between bringing a newborn home and me going back to work the wheels fell off. This happens from time to time and we have to reel everything back in. I have to be a super bad guy for a few days so everyone can remember that we are really in charge and we aren't kidding when we say we expect them to behave a certain way.






The quickest way to get the wheels put back on at our house is to completely unplug. I mean COMPLETELY unplug. No tv, no tablets (for learning or otherwise), no looking at mom's phone, no screens at all. Lets be honest technology makes parenting easier. It just does. When I need the house to be somewhat quiet so I can try to put the baby to sleep the easiest and quickest way to accomplish this is turning on a screen for the big boys.When it's a million degrees outside and everyone is stir crazy a movie in the afternoon would be lovely form of entertainment. However, these thing all snowball into my children asking me ALL DAY long if they can watch something. This is my ultimate pet peeve. They also become obsessed with it and loose their imagination. They forget how to play with each other or do anything but think about the next time they can watch something. So now we've taken that option off the table.






We've been completely unplugged for over a week now and it's lovely. In the absence of screen we have become obsessed with books. I signed up both boys for the Library summer reading program. They both have really enjoyed seeing how much time we spend each day reading. We have also learned how to put books on hold at the library which means that we have had books to look forward to and actually get to check out some books Zane wants to read. Previously our trips to the library involved lots of frustration when none of the books he wanted to read were available. Our trips do usually involve me getting into a classic four year old argument with Rowan who really wants to check out books that "he can read." Turns out he can't read so then we go round and around with this argument. See me in the library repeatedly telling my son he can't read which just doesn't seem nice. We're working on it though....soon.




So far this summer we have made it through almost all the Captain Underpants books, I think we have one left. We have also found a few other series, by the same auther (Dav Pilkey) Dog Man and Ricky's Might Robot which we are working our way through now. Zane can read pretty much anything, but we take turn reading pages of these for the most part. We've rented every book imaginable on snakes and other reptiles. We've found new story books and some little books that Rowan can recognize words in. We've also made the rounds through a lot of our books that we hadn't read in while. Zane has even started reading Thatcher little books, which is just the cutest thing imaginable.




We also started the book Wonder recently, a book about kindness and acceptance of children who are different from you. I'm reading that a loud to them in amongst all our other books. Zane seems to really enjoy that one, Rowan not so much. I am loving all our free time being caught up in reading books and their requests being to read something instead of watch something. We are writing about what we read, doing crafts based on what we've read, and their behavior is much improved. I know that we put a time table on when they could watch something again, so that is probably a motivating factor for their improved behavior, but I need to find a happy balance between the two things. Last night I came home from work and found out they had snuck into our bedroom and watched something on the ipad while Zach was mowing the lawn so it doesn't appear screens will be making a come back anytime soon at our house, which I'm totally fine with.

Lemonade Stand: Summer 2017

For weeks the boys have been asking to have a lemonade stand. My response was always quite wishy washy as I had no desire to sit outside in the heat and mainly because I wasn't sure how they would handle it if no one actually came to their stand. Saturday, while I was at work, Zach gave in to this idea. He is obviously more fun than I am, and they were terribly bored. So while I worked I received videos/pictures from the stand. Zach had taken them to get cups, of varying colors so people could choose their own color, lemonade and tea. This was funded by a no interest loan from The Bank of Mom and Dad, who frequently threaten to call their loan if they aren't behaving. The boys then made a sign advertising their lemonade and tea options for twenty five cents or Arnold Palmers for fifty cents. They both helped decorate it and both helped mix the lemonade and tea. Then they were open for business.

Day one did not go well. No one came to their stand. People drove by and didn't stop (something I will NEVER do again). Rowan didn't last very long in the heat, but Zane stayed outside for quite a long time, yelling "lemonade for sale" at passing cars and at no one in particular hoping the neighbors would hear him and come out of their houses for a refreshing glass of lemonade. When I got home from work I was so sad to hear that no one had come to their stand. They didn't seem to have lost all hope though and were already planning the best time to go out on Sunday.



I got called off of work on Sunday so I was able to help with Sunday's stand. They decided to set up around ten, catching people coming and going to church, maybe capitalize on some guilt of the people who had driven by their stand without stopping the day before. Sunday we brought out their toy cash register to keep the money in, added a shade structure, and a little fan to help keep them cool. I did bring out water bottles for both of them, in hopes of them not getting too hot (turns out they didn't actually drink the water). Sunday's crowd was better, a few cars stopped, some people who had seen them the day before had gotten quarters from their house in preparation for their return. There were a few people out doing yard work on the street so they walked over and asked them if they'd like lemonade. These crazy people said no???? What??? People come on, they had the nerve to walk down the street and talk to you. It costs a quarter, buy some lemonade. But Zane and Rowan were not discouraged, they powered on. Day two was much more successful. After almost two hours they had made maybe seven dollars.

The Richards came by on Sunday and fell for Zane's up sale to the Arnold Palmer.



Zane did end Sunday being carried out of family dinner screaming with a migraine after admitting that he had never drank any of the multiple water bottles I had brought him throughout the day. So the lemonade stand did take it's toll on the poor kid. I thought that was probably the end of their lemonade career. But no, since then had been out every day except today, pretty much on their own while I was inside with Thatcher. They set up their table/supplies by themselves, tape up their sign, bring out the table and chairs from the garage, set up their shade, get the cash register ready, and just need a little help making the lemonade and tea.

Monday one of their previous costumers set up a competing stand down the street, selling strawberry lemonade. They went down and bought some with their earnings, welcoming their rivals to the street. I thought this was very nice and a great lesson in kindness. These poor girls were at the end of cul-de-sac in the very back of a neighborhood, no one was going to drive past them. Needless to say they haven't had their stand out again, but did come back to ours yesterday. Lots of people have given them tips, pretty much everyone lets them keep the change from whatever they buy, so they have made quite a bit of money.

Thursday things got kind of out of hand. Apparently random people, who have driven by multiple times and said hi or said they would come back finally came back. Some old lady came and a gave them each three dollars for "all their hard work," but didn't want any lemonade. A few kids came and gave them three dollars for two glasses. Basically they were borderline panhandling/begging for money outside of our house. We decided to bring it, count their money, split it, and go buy something with their earning this morning.

I'm impressed by their determination and dedication to their lemonade business. I couldn't believe that Zane could sit out, in the heat, doing nothing, for hours trying to make some money. The kid is a worker. They both put a lot effort into it and remembered a lot of their costumers. They remembered the guy who gave them a dollar after they'd brought in their lemonade one day and were sure to give him two glasses the next day. They added strawberries one day after their competitors had sold strawberry lemonade. They were quick with the up sale of Arnold Palmers, even though most people paid more their a quarter for their drinks anyway. Maybe the stand will return at some point, but I think it's time to give out neighbors a bit of a break. This morning we went to Target and they both picked out random things to buy with their earning. They were so proud! Great summer fun!!!

Three Months with Three Kids

So apparently I published this accidently yesterday before I was really done writing it, which is the best way to sum up my crazy, loosing my mind, life. Here's the updated/complete version.

Lots of people have been asking lately me how life is with three kids. People told me the jump from two to three was a big one and so much harder than the jump from one to two. I have to disagree with that. This has been the easiest transition by far as parenting goes. Thatcher is a just a gem of a baby which definitely helps. I also think waiting four years between the second and third one really made things a lot easier as well. Mainly I think that we have the basics of parenting, like keeping everyone alive, pretty well mastered at this point so it's easier to relax and try to enjoy having a baby the third time around.

As far as how life is different, at almost four month into having three kids here is what I think so far. At any given moment I feel like I really have my life together. (That isn't the take away, at all). I'm out and about with three kids, who for the most part are decently behaved (at least in public). The baby is sleeping amazingly well, so I'm not horribly sleep deprived and living in that zombie like state. So overall I feel pretty great. However, the truth is I'm not pulled together at all. I'm so not pulled together that I don't even realize it, but multiple times a day I'm reminded of this and usually blindsided by it. I am, however, oh sooooo close to being pulled together. Just one little (well usually major) thing away from having everything I need or remembering everything I should be doing.

The difference with the third child is I truly feel like I have thought of everything. Whatever it is that I'm missing or forgetting to do never once occurs to me. Large slots of my mind/memory are completely gone now. I don't realize what it is I've forgotten to bring or do until the exact moment I need that thing or should be doing something. Here are a few of the striking examples of this, but something like this happens every single day and I find myself thinking, "so close Aud, but not quite."

First example happened at about the six week point. I had gotten myself and my three children to the gym. I was oh so proud of this accomplishment. I never even thought about possibly exercising until the other two were at least one year old, so being at the gym six weeks post partum is HUGE. Once I dropped the kids off at child watch I realized I had forgotten to put on my new fitbit that I'd gotten in attempt to get back into a workout routine. As I was texting my BFF to tell her I'm losing my mind I realize that my gym pants had been on wrong side out all morning. So close, but not quite. Second example which would have NEVER happened pre-third baby. I get all my kids to the science museum, per their request, after nap time. I even remember to bring our free passes, I'm so proud of myself. As soon as we get checked in my phone alarm goes off reminding me that the nurse who was coming out to my life insurance screening was going to be at my house in ten minutes. We're thirty minutes from our house at this point. I 100% forgot this was even happening. I could hardly believe my brain could be so useless. There are much smaller things likes forgetting to ever take the stroller out the back of my car when I go get groceries, or never having all the things I need in my diaper bag (this never happened with the other two), forgetting one child's entire suitcase when we leave the house, and on and on. It might not drive me as crazy if I was a complete wreck, but I am usually one thing shy of pulled together. Everything in the diaper except one thing, the thing I immediately need, but still just one thing.

As a previously extremely organized person this is infuriating. It's made even more frustrating by the fact that I spend hours each day trying to make lists and really thinking ahead so that I can avoid these situations. I never planned leaving the house for more than the three minutes it took me to get out the door when the other two where little. Now I wonder in circles trying to hard to remember what I'm forgetting. I know I'm forgetting something. I know I am probably one thing shy of a properly packed diaper bag, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it is. In the past four months I have packed and unpacked that bag, trying to think what's missing. I never have a clue and it's different every time. Today same exact story, the thing I forgot today was an extra outfit for Thatcher who immediately threw up on himself upon arriving to Aunt Abbeys. I swear I had five different outfits for Zane in my diaper bag at anytime.

 I rack my brain all day trying to keep everything pulled together, keeping all the balls in the air. Then all the balls inevitably coming crashing down around me, completely unexpectedly. I miss my memory the most. It really makes my job much harder. As a nurse I need to have fifteen things for three or four different patients all juggled in my brain at the same time, at a very fast pace. My brain doesn't work that fast anymore and all the concentration in the world gets me nowhere. This makes for lots of walking in circles when I'm at work, going to get things I forgot, which pre three child me would have never forgotten.

I remember the pregnancy brain from the other two never went away so I guess this is my life now. I set A LOT of alarms on my phone and make sure never to dismiss them until I've actually done whatever it is I was suppose to do or I'd forget immediately. I spend a lot of time searching for words and feeling like I might legit being having a stroke. You know the usual, I've lost all of my mind kind of stuff. Also I've noticed in the past week or so that the moment everyone seems content/asleep/fed another child becomes distressed, hurt, hungry, tired, throwing a fit. The moment I get everything pulled together and think about sitting down to drink some water someone needs cuddled, someone wakes up, someone is hungry, thirsty, happy, sad, bored, you name it. Constant might be the word to best sum it up.

Those are my thoughts on how three kids have changed our life. That and it's fuller, it's better, and it's more fun. I love all my kids more. I love watching them together. I can't imagine life without this new tiny human. I can't believe we ever thought about not having him, which is often followed by knowing I would feel that way about ten more kids, but sadly can't survive or afford to have anymore. It's wonderful and I wish time would slow down.

Summer Update

Well summer is flying by, I can't believe school starts in less than a month. Here are some highlights from the last few weeks.

1. I worked on the fourth of July, but we were able to make it to Edmond's fireworks again this year. Thatcher was a great sport with his first firework show, he stayed up and everything!

 2. The second weekend of July Zach's life long friend, and Rowan's Godfather, Adam came to visit from Arkansas. He brought his two adorable kiddos and we had a blast at the lake with them. His little boy Mack caught the biggest bass of the weekend and he even came to enjoy the water, which I hear is a major step forward for little Mack.

 Here is his big catch, he was pretty terrified of it!

 Here are Zach and Adam with all their kiddos! So fun to see them as dad's together.

 3. Thatcher has been working hard on rolling over and officially mastered it a few days ago. Now we're in that phase where he rolls over and immediately is terribly angry that he's on his stomach and can't roll the other way yet. His big brother's always go quickly to his rescue and flip him back over, so he probably won't be able to roll the other way anytime soon.

 4. Little Thatcher's face is starting to change again, he's getting his very own little face and own smile. Yes, I definitely see his brother's in his face, but it's starting to look more like his own. Also very adorable!

 5. We have gotten to see quite a lot of miss Alice and her dad recently because their kitchen is under construction. I love my sweet little niece and she's growing up soo fast. This picture is one of my absolute favorites. Alice was trying to play with her BFF but accidently threw up a little bit on his head instead. Thatcher's face is priceless and the fact that I took a picture of this event instead of rescuing Thatcher sums up having your third baby!

 6. I really needed to see this picture today. This was taken on a morning where everyone was happy, everyone was listening, everyone was being helpful, we were up and dressed and to the gym by 8:15. I don't remember how the rest of this day went, but this moment was good. Summer time, inside all day, with three kids is proving to be a struggle. Good news the big boys play great together as of late. Bad news they don't listen to anything I say or do anything I ask them to do without me saying one million times and losing my mind. This means I spend the majority of my days being the bad guy trying like crazy to raise well behaved, kind humans, all while losing my mind and missing out on snuggles with my baby. I have yet to figure out a way to make this better. Today was bad, Zach and I have to re-evaluate our discipline strategy as nothing we are doing now is working. Wish us luck.

 7. This past weekend was the last one where I won't be working until my wedding anniversary. We spent it at the lake, probably our last trip for awhile. I went to Amanda's wedding Saturday night. She was like a little sister me growing up. Ten years younger than I and her older sister Emily who was one of my closest friends and really only neighbor growing up. She's been dreaming of this day her whole life and it was a gorgeous wedding. Nothing like a Hladik wedding in Bison.

 The fish weren't really biting this weekend, but Zane caught a few tiny ones Sunday morning.

 Here is Zane having a snake safety lesson with baby Alice. Snake safety was what Zane told Able and Kari he would be in charge of when they had a kid. He started with the basics, head/eye shape of venomous snakes vs non venomous and what snakes are common in OK. He's easing her into the more complicated stuff.

 8. Yesterday I bought this adorable, super soft, $30 panda bear romper. Never a thing I would have bought for any of my other children. Completely not needed, but I had to do it for my last little nugget. I got it big so plan on seeing lots of pictures of him in this for the next few months.

 9. Summer time in Oklahoma with a baby is proving to be much more difficult than I had expected. I miss the outside, specifically our backyard, so much as of late. Today it was 105 degrees and my kids were maybe outside for five minutes all day. Thatcher can't handle it at all and our AC is having a hard time keeping up as well. I don't even want to drive anywhere to try to play inside because the car is so hot and baby T is so sweaty in his little car seat. I ran out of patience and ideas of fun things to do inside a long time ago.

10. In less fun news from our house my boys threw a wii remote at our fairly new smart TV and broke it. They were bowling on the wii and obviously didn't have the hand straps on and didn't mean to do it, but the expensive TV is broken none the less. Also, at some point we left our garage door open and someone stole all of Zach's tools out of our garage. Oh and the new owners of our STL house are sewing us because the basement flooded three years after we moved out, during a 100 yr record rainfall event in STL. So yeah it hasn't been the best month. Surely we have to turn a corner soon.