Making Play Dough and Cutting Hair

Luke discovered the joys of making his own homemade play dough! He uses it way more often than the store bough kind because he knows that he created it. Gabe also loves getting into it which has resulted in several pieces mashed into the carpet!

We also discovered that Luke cut his own hair! This sounds vaguely familiar to a story that my mom tells about me when I was his age. We found the evidence (pieces of hair) in the bathroom sink one day. Luke readily admitted to cutting it even though he'd just had a haircut. I guess he wasn't satisfied with the stylist's work.

Making Progress

For the past two days Kiera has fallen into more of a routine. Eating every 2.5-3 hours and stretching out her nighttime sleep up to 5 hours! I'm still holding my breath each night waiting for the night that she sleeps all the way through, but I don't expect that to happen for several more weeks. My body must be adjusting to the nightly wakings because I've actually had energy the past two days. Energy on my end means that the upstairs of our house finally got vacuumed for the first time since we moved in. Okay, so Matt swept part of it too. It is sad that I worked on laundry most of the day and still have 3 loads to go through today. Today's energy, however, was spent in a different venue.

Kiera and Gabe spent the morning with Mamaw and Papaw Miller so that I could help out at Luke's school party. It reminded me how much I enjoy being in a classroom, but I definitely don't miss the stress of all the extra tasks. I believe I will teach again someday, just not sure if that will happen next year or not. Back to the party...the kids (ages 4-5) played pumpkin games, did crafts, decorated cookies, and had yummy snacks! It was a blast and I am so thankful that Luke has such wonderful teachers!

The kids enjoyed playing with their grandparents and I even had the chance to sneak out to Target to return a costume (Gabe was going to be Elmo until we found Luke's old Spiderman outfit and he chose it instead) and do a little shopping. The dollar rack has a 70% off section and since I don't have my own treasure box at school to fill up anymore, I stocked up for Luke's teachers instead. Sorry Matt, I know you thought that expense was gone, but who can pass up 30 cent items! Even better is that along with babysitting came meals that I just have to warm up later for dinner! Now that's how I like to cook :). Well, really I do like to cook, but warming things up is what I have time for right now.

One Long Day

This picture is actually from a few weeks ago, but represents how today went.

So something was bothering our dear little Kiera today which meant she was totally out of her normal routine and wanted to be held constantly! She spent much of the day carried in the wrap just so that I could attempt to do other things. Days like this make it seem impossible to be the kind of mom I want to be. The boys get the short end of the stick as far as time and attention which leads to meltdowns and crying (mostly from Gabe). I'm pretty sure that I will eventually be immune to crying since I hear so much of it right now! To top it off, we are still unpacking and trying to organize our things from the move (not to mention just keep up on general housework). This means that all the boys want to do is play when Matt gets home, but there's so much that needs done, we keep putting them off just a little longer. I keep telling myself that things will be more settled in a couple of months. Kiera will fall into a better routine and start sleeping through the night giving mommy more energy and patience. Eventually, things will be unpacked and as organized as possible with 3 little ones. For now, we focus on survival - I mean that literally since I've put on the grocery run for awhile now and we're running out of food! Kiera seems to calming down now, so here's to hoping for a sleep-filled night after I finally make that grocery run.

First Smile (Caught on Camera Anyway)

Isn't she just adorable! She's had a few other smiles, but this one is the first we caught on camera (totally by accident too).

Zoo Boo

Our little superheros!

Kierra was just along for the ride.

Gabe was double fisting his hot dog to fend off his hangry feeling.

Luke was thrilled to find another Wolverine!

Halloween Cookies

Luke was a huge helper making Halloween cookies! He quickly learned how to roll out the dough and add flour at just the right times to prevent sticking. Of course he made the two that you see covered in chocolate sprinkles!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Monday was a gorgeous day! We were all in good moods and I actually had the energy to work on the house. And then the cold rain came in yesterday and all motivation to be productive went out the window. Everyone was tired and cranky today (except for Kiera who was just cranky and wide-awake). Even with the colder weather settling in, sunshine would do us a world of good!

Living in Chaos

Life with three kiddos has been a little crazy, but we love having our family completed. Kiera's doing great - eating like a champ and putting on the pounds! She sleeps in her own bed and wakes only for her night feedings (usually). If we could just convince her to go to bed at a normal time rather than fight sleep until 11pm. We caved in Friday night and just let her stay up without trying to put her to bed until around 11 and the next day she was much more alert and active. Amazingly, she went to bed around 8pm with no problem the next night! We are really hoping to repeat that again tonight. Once we can recapture our kid-free portion of the evening, I think things will feel calmer. As it stands now, Matt gets home around 6 so by the time we have dinner and play with the boys some, it's time for baths, books, and bed. After getting the boys into bed, we continue to attempt putting Kiera to bed for 3+ hours which means we're lucky if dinner gets cleaned up much less any boxes unpacked or even television shows watched (I know priorities right). By the time she's down for the evening, we collapse into bed exhausted and hopeful that she'll decide to sleep a long stretch that night. We do make some progress on the house on the weekends, but even that is challenging because the boys just want us to play and I try to sneak in extra naps to prepare for the upcoming week of night feedings. I'm trying not to let the unpacked boxes and toys all over the floor drive me crazy because I know that in a few months things will calm down a little and we'll have more sleep once again. Right now Luke is shooting Nerf darts, Gabe is screaming for a cookie, Matt's washing something in the sink, and I'm sitting here typing as Kiera enjoys her meal. One benefit in breastfeeding is that I have an excuse to sit down every few hours :). Now my break is over...

Dressing Up Is Not Her Style

This is what our little girl thinks of getting all dressed up!