No, we're not pregnant. Let me just start there. And for many of you this isn't big news because you already know what's going on But I was thinking this morning that some of you have no idea the adventure we're on right now.
2 1/2 weeks ago Brad quit his job of 13 years at Farmer's Insurance because he accepted a job with Nationwide Insurance as an Auto Claims Manager for Northern California. Yep, that's right. So, starting 2 1/2 weeks ago we started on logistics. We met with our realtor in SLC, got our house ready to list, said goodbye to our friends and then last Thursday we packed up the van and headed to my friend's house to stay our last night in SLC. The house was spotless and it looked really good! No wonder we bought it 3 1/2 years ago! :) We were actually pretty proud of ourselves that we could get it all done with 3 under 4 but we did resort to a Boz the Bear video for the girls and William on my back as we loaded the van and did the last floor cleaning.
Last Friday our house went on the market and we drove to Gunnison, CO. Praise God, our house sold that day for full price! Whew! And, the drive to CO went well. Brad spent the weekend with us in CO and then flew Sunday night to Sacramento to start his new job.
So this is the plan: the kids and I will be living at my parents' house until we close on a house in California and Brad is living in a hotel until then. :( We have some back and forth trips planned (for house hunting, Thanksgiving and maybe Christmas) but until further notice, we're doing family time over Skype and speaker phone. Our house in SLC closes in a few weeks so Brad will head back there to meet the packers/movers to empty our house.
Brad is enjoying his new job so far and he can't believe how beautiful his new territory is! His area stretches from San Francisco to the Oregon border as far East as Sacramento. Yeah, talk about spoiled.
So the plan is to find a house somewhere just North of San Francisco in the next few months. At least, that's our plan. God has orchestrated the details of this adventure so far so we'll see what He has in store for us.
Our mail is being forwarded to my parents' and I probably won't send out Christmas cards until after we move into our new house but send yours our way! My cell phone (303) still works but Brad's has changed. Email us if you want that.
The kids are doing really well so far with the transition but time is going SO SLOWLY! I can't believe it's only been 3 days since Brad left. William is sitting up now and has both bottom teeth and one top one has poked through (the other is just below the gum). He has a passionate love for food and he loves to be read to. He laughs a lot but that boy has a serious mad cry. He screams like nothing I've ever heard before when he's upset about something. It literally makes me crazy. So, he's getting held a lot these days to avoid screaming. :)
Addy and Elsie are loving spending time with Grammy B (Ba B is hunting in Western Colorado this week) and while they miss their daddy, I think the distraction of being here is helping ease the fall out of him being gone.
We attended the Gunnison MOPS group this morning and it was nice for the kids to get to do something 'normal' for them. I enjoyed interacting with other young moms and getting a break from the intensity of 3 under 4.
So that's it for now. We're on to our next adventure. It was so hard to leave SLC as we've made amazing friends and love our church there. I cried most of the 2 weeks between when we decided we were leaving and when we actually left. I could hardly tell our friends we were going without crying. But I know that God will provide a community and great friends for us in CA like He did in SLC. I'm just having to remind myself that. . . a lot!
So we'd appreciate your prayers for a house, for peace in the transition and for the kids as they are missing their Daddy.
Thank you! We'll be in touch!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Summer
Some highlights since it's been two months. . .
We've been having fun family adventures since Brad took last week off. We went swimming, hiking, to the splash pad, biking, picnicking and took really good naps. :) The not so fun part was that our computer crashed and Brad spent countless hours trying to get that fixed! We're mostly functional now.
We dedicated William at church at the end of August and he certainly stole the stage. He was squawking and climbing up my stomach, grabbing my glasses and drooling everywhere. It was funny but I was sweating to death trying to keep him under control. When Pastor Steve prayed for William, he held him and luckily he didn't spit up on him. The girls did great standing in front of the church and Elsie liked that she could stay in big church for a little bit. But, the best part for her was that William got to go to her class afterward for the first time!
Elsie is almost 2 1/2 and she is a piece of work! Just check out that face. Can't you just see her as a teenager already? :) She's had a big month because she started pre-school with Mommy and started potty training! She's doing great and is really motivated by the cookies she gets for staying clean and dry! :) She's showing off her potty party chain that counted down the days until we started potty training and her potty party treats to the left. School with Mommy is going really well and she loves it. She's really into the songs and crafts and loves that she has her own Bible verse to memorize and Bible stories to learn. She also loves books, imaginative play and going FAST! She loves to do her balance bike and swing 'so fast' on the swings.
William is 6 months old now. He loves: being outside, drooling (check out the drool in the swing photo!), chewing on things, spitting up, sticking his tongue out and smacking his lips together (all because his 2 bottom teeth are poking through the gums now), trying to eat whatever I'm eating and moving! He is not a fan of: diaper changes, naps, or being left alone for too long.
I did start solids with William a couple of weeks ago because he was just going crazy when we were eating. He would try muscling my hand of food to his mouth while I was eating. It was hilarious! But I decided after a week that I was wasting my time feeding him. He just wasn't keeping any of it in with his tongue thrusting out constantly. So developmentally, he's not there yet even though he's motivated. And since I don't have time to waste, that adventure is on hold for him.
We've been having fun family adventures since Brad took last week off. We went swimming, hiking, to the splash pad, biking, picnicking and took really good naps. :) The not so fun part was that our computer crashed and Brad spent countless hours trying to get that fixed! We're mostly functional now. 
We dedicated William at church at the end of August and he certainly stole the stage. He was squawking and climbing up my stomach, grabbing my glasses and drooling everywhere. It was funny but I was sweating to death trying to keep him under control. When Pastor Steve prayed for William, he held him and luckily he didn't spit up on him. The girls did great standing in front of the church and Elsie liked that she could stay in big church for a little bit. But, the best part for her was that William got to go to her class afterward for the first time!
William is 6 months old now. He loves: being outside, drooling (check out the drool in the swing photo!), chewing on things, spitting up, sticking his tongue out and smacking his lips together (all because his 2 bottom teeth are poking through the gums now), trying to eat whatever I'm eating and moving! He is not a fan of: diaper changes, naps, or being left alone for too long.
I did start solids with William a couple of weeks ago because he was just going crazy when we were eating. He would try muscling my hand of food to his mouth while I was eating. It was hilarious! But I decided after a week that I was wasting my time feeding him. He just wasn't keeping any of it in with his tongue thrusting out constantly. So developmentally, he's not there yet even though he's motivated. And since I don't have time to waste, that adventure is on hold for him.
Addy is quite the little Mama and I've heard myself saying "That's not your job" a lot to her. She just can't help herself but telling everyone else what to do. :) She and Elsie are getting pretty good at playing together and Addy is learning that Elsie has opinions too. She loves playing with William, doing school with Mommy, going on dates with Daddy and riding her bike. You can see her in the center in the lower right picture with my MOPS Fitness Friday group. She got to ride her bike that day as we walked around the park and she had a great time. She turns 4 next week. . . crazy!
Well, I did it. I updated the blog. :) Happy Fall!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Happy 4th of July!
I feel like starting off this post by saying "There and back again. A tale by Kim Slease." :) In the last month and a half we've been there and back again. To Gunnison, that is. We were able to spend 2 weeks (at least the kids and I were there that long) at my parents' house enjoying all we could squeeze into our visit. But, wait, before I get ahead of myself. . .
We ended May by planting our garden again - something we said we wouldn't do again so long as we have littles. But as the sun came out, I got the itch to plant something so we bought a few plants and had the girls help us put them in the garden bed. They had a great time helping us dig the holes, put the plants in and water them. It was all fun and games until about 11:55am. At that point we should have called it quits. . . the next 20 minutes before lunch were all whining and crying. They couldn't appreciate pushing through to finish the project. Oh well, they did pretty well. We planted broccoli, pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, acorn squash and a free tomato plant from the nursery. Luckily the girls like tomatoes.
In early June we loaded the van and headed out to my parents so I would have some help while Brad went to Arizona for work. The kids and I kept my parents busy and we enjoyed a visit by my Grandpa (Great Ba to the kids) and had a great time being outside. When Brad returned from his trip, we stayed another week and welcomed the Sullivan family for a few days. They lived down the street from us in Denver and we have both upped our kiddo count to 3 since we saw them last. We had a great time with them and Mom & Dad were great sports to host us and our 6 kids under 6. :) Who knew you could put 6 car seats in a Sequoia?!
Since being home, we've gotten back in the groove of being tired. . . oh wait, I meant life with 3 kids 3 & under. :) Actually, William started going 7pm-7am between feedings so that has helped a lot. If only I could get Addy to stop waking up at 3am to go to the bathroom, I'd be all set! But that has been another milestone for our family, Addy is completely pull-up free now. She's sleeping in underwear and has only had 1 middle of the night accident (knock on wood!). One down, 2 to go.
We had my great Aunt Evie for a visit a few weekends ago and we trucked her all over for a couple of days. She's amazing! At 91 she is so busy and in such great shape! Her secret? She exercises every day and always has. She was a physical therapist and continues to do all the exercises she used to teach her patients. If that isn't motivation to exercise, nothing will be!
We celebrated our 8th anniversary last week and enjoyed a yummy BBQ dinner and a 'porch date' once the kids were in bed. In case you were wondering about the last post, Brad did it for me as a gift. It was sort of a mixed bag though because he knows I hate that second song he used. What a stinker!
We enjoyed our neighborhood 4th of July celebration again this year (all except for the 10 minutes when we lost Elsie in the masses of humanity all wearing red, white and blue!). We enjoyed the pancake breakfast, parade and carnival before having a BBQ at a neighbors and crashing for a nap! After our naps we went for round two and had a college student over for dinner, fireworks in our driveway and the big Sugarhouse Fireworks display. What a great day! It was strange for Brad to go back to work the next day and both of us were pretty beat by Friday night. We love our neighborhood.
I finally (mostly) finished a project that I've wanted to do since we moved in. Our front flower bed only had tulips in it and once those were done, we had no color in the front yard. It has always bugged me and finally we did something about it. We planted a bunch of little perennials and so hopefully we'll get to enjoy them next year. I say hopefully because Brad reminded me that now that we have a church we love and we've done our flowerbed it will be time to move. :) I hope not but that's how it went in Denver! I'm not quite done though since a failed experiment with my tulips means I need to get a bunch of bulbs this fall and plant them. Once I get those in, I'll be done with the front yard. Next spring we'll be working on the back. . .
We've had a lot of hot days in Salt Lake but recently we've started having thunderstorms with a lot of rain. The girls (and Brad) like to go puddle stomping in their puddle shoes (on bath night) while I clean up dinner dishes. It's pretty funny to watch and I love seeing them pour out their rain boots when they're done.
William is now 4 months old and has changed a lot since my last post. He started rolling over both directions at 3 1/2 months (which is crazy early compared to the girls!) and consequently isn't being swaddled anymore to sleep. Not long after that transition I stopped feeding him late at night and he's done pretty well with that too. He occasionally wakes me up in the night because he's hungry but overall he goes 7 to 7. He wakes up happy, too, which is so pleasant! He's such a squeaker, and now he's screeching for fun too. The dude needs to learn 'inside voice' already! He weighs 14 lbs 10 oz and is almost 26 inches long. It's funny though, he's got a pin head just like the girls did. He's 25% for his head size. :) They are my kids!
Elsie is keeping up with Addy in all things physical like running and biking. She remains my mamma's girl and always wants to be touching me. It's cute, sometimes. :) Her vocabulary is growing so rapidly and she is in that stage of muddling words she uses like saying grasspopper for grasshopper. I love that.
Addy is so imaginative. She's creating her own words to go right along with the stories she makes up. She can play by herself for a long time just pretending. This morning when she started playing I heard her say to her toys, "Ok, this morning I'm going to teach you to clean the floors." You can guess what we were doing right before I put her in there. :) Yes, I'm trying to teach the girls to clean because I've cancelled our cleaning service and if they don't help me do it, it's just not going to get done! We'll see how that goes.
So, we're doing pretty well. We're getting in the groove of life with lots of littles and we're learning to have them help us with all the many things involved in keeping the house running. They are helping us make Brad's shakes, cook, put laundry away and they keep their own toys and things picked up. It's helping and it is amazing to see how much they really can do.
I've started a women's Bible study where we are studying John Piper's book Battling Unbelief. Wow. So good. Even if I have William with me bouncing on my lap and squealing through most of it. I'm planning to do MOPS leadership again next year and I'm looking forward to doing Bible Study Fellowship. I've also managed to start spin classes again since William is cooperating by taking a bottle when I'm gone. Yeah!
Brad is working on learning the liability side of claims at work and getting back into the groove of exercising. It's hard to find time when his desperate wife will let him out of the house but he's figuring it out. :)
I made a slide show of our last several weeks so you can see how big the kids are getting. Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
It's the big one...
Happy 8th Anniversary Baby! Eight years, three kids, two houses, one dog (I miss Brody) and you and me. I love you and being married to you. Your my best friend and biggest cheerleader. Your smile and laughter brighten my day. Looking back we've packed a lot into our time together. I'm looking forward to the next eight and the eight after that. I've put together a little slideshow for you to remember just how far we've come together (lots of smiles and laughter).
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Lord of the Dance starring Master William
So, we have always come up with songs that fit the behavior or looks of our kids. It all started with Addy in her huge cloth diapers when we would sing the Rocky theme song and swing her little fists to the beat. It was always when she was wearing the green diaper with white lining. Those ones look just like boxing shorts. We always laughed that we should make videos of it but we never did.
Tonight I was getting ready to change William's diaper and he was kicking his feet all over the place and making a racket because his cloth cover is in the laundry because yesterday I got distracted emptying the diaper pail while his diaper was off. Really? When I finally got back to him he had peed all over and was grinning like crazy. :) Anyway, while I've never seen more than clips of Irish dancing or Riverdance, he seems to have it in his blood. Maybe he's trying to tell us he does want us to call him Master William or Liam. Anyway, here's his debut. I think we're a little tired tonight because this was really funny to us. I hope you enjoy it too.
We did have professional photos taken of our family right after William was born. Since we've been so busy (and our photographer is about to have her 4th baby) it's taken a bit of time to get them back. But since I'm in such a goofy mood I'll share this one with you. Seriously, why did we pay so much money for a picture with William cross-eyed in it?! :) Maybe our photographer was in a goofy mood too when she included this one in our CD. She did get the exact same shot without his eyes crossed and was nice enough to give us that one too.
William has been busy sleeping, eating, and you know. . . He's also been busy getting out of his swaddle. We've tried the miracle blanket, we've tried the swaddleme, we've tried both of them together. It doesn't matter. If he wants to get his hands out, he gets them out and wakes himself up during his nap by eating his hands. He won't go back to sleep unless he's re-swaddled. Good grief! I'm ready for him to grow out of needing to be swaddled to sleep. Check out the serious look he has. He's already got quite the expressive face.
And just so you know he isn't always so serious, here's his whole body grin. :)
Ok, off to bed. Happy Memorial Day!
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Spring Update
Since the last time I posted, we've been busy! I've attached a slide show of pictures but here's the run down. . .
My sister, Jenny, was able to spend a few days with us on her way to California. She spent Easter with us at our Pastor's house where the girls enjoyed an Easter egg hunt (they got more eggs than the big kids . . . they had a little help!).
Then, Brad traveled to N. Carolina for a week and since Dad had a business trip scheduled to SLC, Mom came along and stayed to help. We celebrated Elsie's 2nd birthday while they were in town.
Elsie is a piece of work! She's so funny with her faces and silly things she says and does. Her vocabulary is exploding (to include things like 'no way!' 'Baby Lilliam cying' 'silly me!' among many other things) We took her to the Dr for her 2 year check up and while she feels like a tank to me, she's still only 24 lbs (20%) and 34" tall (70%). She is enjoying riding her strider, playing at the park and imagining going anywhere. She often packs a bag or bucket and tells me she's going to the jump house. She continues to be a good eater (with avocados and cookies being her favorites) and she loves to read books and sing songs. Our most recent adventure with her is that she learned to crawl out of her crib. It was a pretty funny event, actually, because we were all confused as to how Elsie came to be playing in her room when she was supposed to be in play time in her crib. She was happy to show us how she got out. It became not so funny when I was working in the garage during her playtime a few days later and came in to check on the girls. She was sitting on the floor by the door eating a dove chocolate piece she fished out of my bag. She was wearing her rain boots and had pretty much had a hay day in the house. She hasn't done it in almost a week so I think she figured out her consequences were going to be consistent and it wasn't worth it. :)
Addy is a funny kid. She loves to perform whether that is reading, singing or dancing. She talks in New King James English when she 'reads' out of her Bible and the conglomeration of stories she puts together are pretty funny. She loves her baby brother and does a really good job with him. She's so gentle, plays peek-a-boo with him and shhh-es him when he cries. Addy's imagination is unbelievable and if she's allowed to, she'll take over the dinnertime conversation to tell us about what she and 'her girls' did that day. She makes the whole thing up! She also has an amazing memory. She refers to things that happened over a year ago that haven't been mentioned since. She blows us away.
William is now 10 weeks old and is in the middle of Baby Bootcamp. Actually, that sounds worse that it's turned out to be. He started sleeping about 5 or so hours in a stretch at night pretty early on and then sort of hovered there, not really stretching out. He was often waking up after only a 45 minute nap in the day and I just couldn't figure out how to regulate his schedule. This weekend I cracked and Brad ordered me out of the house (on Mother's Day!) so he could work it out with William. It worked. Somehow I got used to jumping up to get William whenever he cried during a nap instead of letting him work it out. Since then he's gone 8+ hours at night and is on a very regular 3 hour routine during the day. He does wake up and fuss occasionally but he goes back to sleep pretty easily. I feel like a whole new person. I'm even blogging during nap time instead of sleeping! :)
At William's 2 mo. check up we actually ended up doing an ER follow up visit - that's a whole other story- too. He was 23.3" (65%) and 12.2 lbs (75%). We got him reflux medicine even though he's growing well because it is suspected the reflux is why we ended up in the ER. One night William turned pale, dazed and floppy and I called 911 while Brad was at work. He stayed that way for 40 min even though his vitals were normal. Children's Hospital called it an Acute Life Threatening Event - which meant they had no idea why it happened to an otherwise healthy baby so we stayed overnight and they did some tests. The conclusion was that it was likely caused by the reflux but that we probably wouldn't see him do that again. What a scary ordeal!
William is very smiley now (more so since the reflux meds and getting 8+ hours of sleep!) and squalks and kicks his legs a lot. He really watches people and he has some pretty pensive expressions already. He does, however, have to take frequent breaks from the high energy his sisters put out and he doesn't last long around both of them at the same time. :) I suppose that won't change much over the years.
Our most recent adventure commenced this weekend when we hosted the 2nd Annual MOPS Yard sale fundraiser at our house. For the last month we've been gathering donations (enough to fill our 3 car garage!) and other moms and I worked all last week getting everything sorted and priced. Saturday we were up bright and early to run the sale and we make over $1300! Wow! We even had a TON of clothes left over and some other items that we were able to donate. What a success. Then, that night we had a babysitter for the first time so Brad and I could see Les Miserables at the Pioneer Theater Company. It was a very good show and a very late night. But, William cooperated and never even woke up while Kristen was here. I'm sure the exhaustion of the week contributed to my break down on Mother's Day that made Brad kick me out of the house so he could get our son in line. :)
Yeah, so don't ask about Mother's Day. I'm taking a rain check on the whole thing so I can enjoy it instead of just being an exhausted mess all day.
Brad has been busy at work learning to manage 2 new liability teams on top of his auto team. He's been enjoying the warmer weather by taking the girls on lots of walks to the park and getting the yard in better shape after winter. He sure does a great job running the show when I'm busy with William. What a great dad!
I'm done with all my year's activities for the summer so I'm creating a new routine for me and the kids. We're starting weekly walks at the park with some other MOPS moms followed by playing at the playground and a picnic. We're getting good exercise and the kids are getting worn out playing outside. It's been really refreshing but pushing 2 and carrying 1 is a lot of work! I'm figuring out how to keep everyone cared for during the day when Brad's gone but I have yet to actually cook a real dinner. I've defrosted and reheated previously prepared meals and dished out left overs but cooking. . . not yet and William is 10 weeks! Oh well, no one has gone hungry yet.
Life is busy around here with 3 littles 3 and under. Maybe now that I don't need a nap every day I can start to get some things done. . . if I could only find my To Do List. :)
My sister, Jenny, was able to spend a few days with us on her way to California. She spent Easter with us at our Pastor's house where the girls enjoyed an Easter egg hunt (they got more eggs than the big kids . . . they had a little help!).
Then, Brad traveled to N. Carolina for a week and since Dad had a business trip scheduled to SLC, Mom came along and stayed to help. We celebrated Elsie's 2nd birthday while they were in town.
Elsie is a piece of work! She's so funny with her faces and silly things she says and does. Her vocabulary is exploding (to include things like 'no way!' 'Baby Lilliam cying' 'silly me!' among many other things) We took her to the Dr for her 2 year check up and while she feels like a tank to me, she's still only 24 lbs (20%) and 34" tall (70%). She is enjoying riding her strider, playing at the park and imagining going anywhere. She often packs a bag or bucket and tells me she's going to the jump house. She continues to be a good eater (with avocados and cookies being her favorites) and she loves to read books and sing songs. Our most recent adventure with her is that she learned to crawl out of her crib. It was a pretty funny event, actually, because we were all confused as to how Elsie came to be playing in her room when she was supposed to be in play time in her crib. She was happy to show us how she got out. It became not so funny when I was working in the garage during her playtime a few days later and came in to check on the girls. She was sitting on the floor by the door eating a dove chocolate piece she fished out of my bag. She was wearing her rain boots and had pretty much had a hay day in the house. She hasn't done it in almost a week so I think she figured out her consequences were going to be consistent and it wasn't worth it. :)
Addy is a funny kid. She loves to perform whether that is reading, singing or dancing. She talks in New King James English when she 'reads' out of her Bible and the conglomeration of stories she puts together are pretty funny. She loves her baby brother and does a really good job with him. She's so gentle, plays peek-a-boo with him and shhh-es him when he cries. Addy's imagination is unbelievable and if she's allowed to, she'll take over the dinnertime conversation to tell us about what she and 'her girls' did that day. She makes the whole thing up! She also has an amazing memory. She refers to things that happened over a year ago that haven't been mentioned since. She blows us away.
William is now 10 weeks old and is in the middle of Baby Bootcamp. Actually, that sounds worse that it's turned out to be. He started sleeping about 5 or so hours in a stretch at night pretty early on and then sort of hovered there, not really stretching out. He was often waking up after only a 45 minute nap in the day and I just couldn't figure out how to regulate his schedule. This weekend I cracked and Brad ordered me out of the house (on Mother's Day!) so he could work it out with William. It worked. Somehow I got used to jumping up to get William whenever he cried during a nap instead of letting him work it out. Since then he's gone 8+ hours at night and is on a very regular 3 hour routine during the day. He does wake up and fuss occasionally but he goes back to sleep pretty easily. I feel like a whole new person. I'm even blogging during nap time instead of sleeping! :)
At William's 2 mo. check up we actually ended up doing an ER follow up visit - that's a whole other story- too. He was 23.3" (65%) and 12.2 lbs (75%). We got him reflux medicine even though he's growing well because it is suspected the reflux is why we ended up in the ER. One night William turned pale, dazed and floppy and I called 911 while Brad was at work. He stayed that way for 40 min even though his vitals were normal. Children's Hospital called it an Acute Life Threatening Event - which meant they had no idea why it happened to an otherwise healthy baby so we stayed overnight and they did some tests. The conclusion was that it was likely caused by the reflux but that we probably wouldn't see him do that again. What a scary ordeal!
William is very smiley now (more so since the reflux meds and getting 8+ hours of sleep!) and squalks and kicks his legs a lot. He really watches people and he has some pretty pensive expressions already. He does, however, have to take frequent breaks from the high energy his sisters put out and he doesn't last long around both of them at the same time. :) I suppose that won't change much over the years.
Our most recent adventure commenced this weekend when we hosted the 2nd Annual MOPS Yard sale fundraiser at our house. For the last month we've been gathering donations (enough to fill our 3 car garage!) and other moms and I worked all last week getting everything sorted and priced. Saturday we were up bright and early to run the sale and we make over $1300! Wow! We even had a TON of clothes left over and some other items that we were able to donate. What a success. Then, that night we had a babysitter for the first time so Brad and I could see Les Miserables at the Pioneer Theater Company. It was a very good show and a very late night. But, William cooperated and never even woke up while Kristen was here. I'm sure the exhaustion of the week contributed to my break down on Mother's Day that made Brad kick me out of the house so he could get our son in line. :)
Yeah, so don't ask about Mother's Day. I'm taking a rain check on the whole thing so I can enjoy it instead of just being an exhausted mess all day.
Brad has been busy at work learning to manage 2 new liability teams on top of his auto team. He's been enjoying the warmer weather by taking the girls on lots of walks to the park and getting the yard in better shape after winter. He sure does a great job running the show when I'm busy with William. What a great dad!
I'm done with all my year's activities for the summer so I'm creating a new routine for me and the kids. We're starting weekly walks at the park with some other MOPS moms followed by playing at the playground and a picnic. We're getting good exercise and the kids are getting worn out playing outside. It's been really refreshing but pushing 2 and carrying 1 is a lot of work! I'm figuring out how to keep everyone cared for during the day when Brad's gone but I have yet to actually cook a real dinner. I've defrosted and reheated previously prepared meals and dished out left overs but cooking. . . not yet and William is 10 weeks! Oh well, no one has gone hungry yet.
Life is busy around here with 3 littles 3 and under. Maybe now that I don't need a nap every day I can start to get some things done. . . if I could only find my To Do List. :)
Saturday, March 30, 2013
William Dean Slease
Well, William is almost a month old already so we thought it was about time we introduce him to you all. :) Life with 3 littles is busy even with an extra adult around (which I've had almost every day since he was born) and yet I still can't seem to get much done.
I also thought I should tell the real story of his birth so that all of you that wagged your finger at me about 'barely making it to the hospital' would know what really happened.
Friday night, March 1, I had random contractions throughout the night (which I had been having for a while and even went to the hospital the week before on the 'first contraction' like everyone advised me so I wouldn't have a baby at home again). Anyway, in the morning they continued and about 9:30 I decided to lay down to be able to pay attention to them. We called my midwife and upon telling her they were 10-20 minutes apart she said we should wait to come in until they were closer together and stronger. So wait 3 hours we did and then all of a sudden, they went crazy. It was just like with Elsie's birth. Brad started freaking out (and so did Mom & Dad) that I get in the car right away. But you know if you've ever been in transition in labor, you don't really feel like moving much.
I did make my way into the car and Brad drove like heck to get us to the hospital. Less than 30 minutes after we pulled up to the hospital, William was born. My midwife was great. She met us there, they had a room ready and the nurses just let me do what I needed to do. They skipped all the procedures and just let me do my thing. My water broke and out he came. Crazy. But, we made it this time. We were glad too because William was a little blue because I had been breathing too fast and his oxygen levels were off so they were able to pink him up a bit. And, that first night in the hospital he aspirated some spit up and they had to give him oxygen and suction his stomach because he stopped breathing. That was so scary and we were glad we were not at home for that.
Since March 2, we've been blessed with help, meals and lots of gifts for our little guy. (I'm still working on thank you cards!) We were especially blessed when I came down with Mastitis and Brad had to finish a certification class for work. A friend watched the girls for me and neighbors brought us dinner. Brad goes back to work on Wednesday so we'll see if the house remains standing at that point.
Here's a slide show of the first couple weeks. Actually, it may only be the first week. I haven't seen my camera since. :)
On other news, Elsie is about to turn 2 and she's decided the birth of her baby brother "Yilliam" is a perfect time to start potty training. Whew! I don't want to discourage her but seriously?! She talks a blue streak and is very active. She loves to ride her strider, play at the park and just run, run, run! She's in the 'I do it!' phase for sure and she keeps us on our toes with her passion.
Addy, who is 3 1/2 (and she'll tell you she's not 3!), is a great big, big sister. She's very helpful with William. She's getting into playing board games and she is really growing in her independence. Addy loves to write in her nursing notebook (just like Mommy) and she loves to have one on one play time with anyone who is around.
Brad and I are trying to adjust to being outnumbered. We're seeing we've entered a season of quick prep meals, not much down time and lots of energy (not ours!). I'm sure we'll settle into a routine but right now everything feels pretty chaotic. Three is a LOT more than two! At least, that's how it feels right now. But you know, William is such a sweet little blessing and we experienced so many answers to prayer with his birth and since we've been home. It may be tricky for a while but we are blessed.
I also thought I should tell the real story of his birth so that all of you that wagged your finger at me about 'barely making it to the hospital' would know what really happened.
Friday night, March 1, I had random contractions throughout the night (which I had been having for a while and even went to the hospital the week before on the 'first contraction' like everyone advised me so I wouldn't have a baby at home again). Anyway, in the morning they continued and about 9:30 I decided to lay down to be able to pay attention to them. We called my midwife and upon telling her they were 10-20 minutes apart she said we should wait to come in until they were closer together and stronger. So wait 3 hours we did and then all of a sudden, they went crazy. It was just like with Elsie's birth. Brad started freaking out (and so did Mom & Dad) that I get in the car right away. But you know if you've ever been in transition in labor, you don't really feel like moving much.
I did make my way into the car and Brad drove like heck to get us to the hospital. Less than 30 minutes after we pulled up to the hospital, William was born. My midwife was great. She met us there, they had a room ready and the nurses just let me do what I needed to do. They skipped all the procedures and just let me do my thing. My water broke and out he came. Crazy. But, we made it this time. We were glad too because William was a little blue because I had been breathing too fast and his oxygen levels were off so they were able to pink him up a bit. And, that first night in the hospital he aspirated some spit up and they had to give him oxygen and suction his stomach because he stopped breathing. That was so scary and we were glad we were not at home for that.
Since March 2, we've been blessed with help, meals and lots of gifts for our little guy. (I'm still working on thank you cards!) We were especially blessed when I came down with Mastitis and Brad had to finish a certification class for work. A friend watched the girls for me and neighbors brought us dinner. Brad goes back to work on Wednesday so we'll see if the house remains standing at that point.
Here's a slide show of the first couple weeks. Actually, it may only be the first week. I haven't seen my camera since. :)
On other news, Elsie is about to turn 2 and she's decided the birth of her baby brother "Yilliam" is a perfect time to start potty training. Whew! I don't want to discourage her but seriously?! She talks a blue streak and is very active. She loves to ride her strider, play at the park and just run, run, run! She's in the 'I do it!' phase for sure and she keeps us on our toes with her passion.
Addy, who is 3 1/2 (and she'll tell you she's not 3!), is a great big, big sister. She's very helpful with William. She's getting into playing board games and she is really growing in her independence. Addy loves to write in her nursing notebook (just like Mommy) and she loves to have one on one play time with anyone who is around.
Brad and I are trying to adjust to being outnumbered. We're seeing we've entered a season of quick prep meals, not much down time and lots of energy (not ours!). I'm sure we'll settle into a routine but right now everything feels pretty chaotic. Three is a LOT more than two! At least, that's how it feels right now. But you know, William is such a sweet little blessing and we experienced so many answers to prayer with his birth and since we've been home. It may be tricky for a while but we are blessed.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Recap :)
I decided to update the blog today and I had to laugh that the last post I did announced that we were going to have a boy. That in itself probably recaps the last 4 months for you. :) Here's a quick run-down and a slide show of what we've been up to. . .
We hosted Thanksgiving for my parents and sister and it turned into quite a family gathering! We had to move the dining room table to the living room to fit everyone. It was great fun!
We've had a LOT of snow this winter and I'm happy to say that the snow that's hung around since before Christmas is finally (almost!) gone. Whew! Today the sun is shining and giving us hope that spring is coming.
We remodeled our basement to make a bedroom for our little guy and so we spent 2 months covered in dust, sleeping in the guest bed in the family room and unable to find anything. We also were sick most of that time with ear infections and coughs from lingering colds. That was a long 2 months but the remodel turned out great and we now have 4 bedrooms instead of 3. We haven't exactly moved everything back in from the garage yet. . . maybe someday.
Elsie finally got tubes in her ears in January after going through 6 ear infections since September and it has really helped! No more crying in the night from ear pain or trips to the Dr twice a week. Whew!
We spent Christmas in Houston this year with some of Brad's family and it was a blast! There were so many little cousins for the girls to play with and we got the royal treatment since I was pregnant. Actually, we've yet to go to TX not pregnant. Maybe next time. :)
In preparation for our new addition, Addy got a real big girl bed and we moved her crib/toddler bed to the basement. She loves her new bed and loves that it's purple! :)
This pregnancy was especially hard on my back and at the end of January I was finding it really hard to put any weight on my left leg. Naturally, that made taking care of a 3 yr old and a 1 1/2 year old a bit tricky so at the beginning of February my Mom (and then my Dad) came out to help. Their plan was to try to stay in town until our little guy was born so we'd have someone to watch the girls when we were in the hospital. The plan worked but since little man lingered in the womb, they were here waiting, waiting, waiting, longer than they thought they would be. What a blessing! I couldn't have finished out the pregnancy with their help.
So, that's all I can remember of the last four months. Enjoy the pictures!
We hosted Thanksgiving for my parents and sister and it turned into quite a family gathering! We had to move the dining room table to the living room to fit everyone. It was great fun!
We've had a LOT of snow this winter and I'm happy to say that the snow that's hung around since before Christmas is finally (almost!) gone. Whew! Today the sun is shining and giving us hope that spring is coming.
We remodeled our basement to make a bedroom for our little guy and so we spent 2 months covered in dust, sleeping in the guest bed in the family room and unable to find anything. We also were sick most of that time with ear infections and coughs from lingering colds. That was a long 2 months but the remodel turned out great and we now have 4 bedrooms instead of 3. We haven't exactly moved everything back in from the garage yet. . . maybe someday.
Elsie finally got tubes in her ears in January after going through 6 ear infections since September and it has really helped! No more crying in the night from ear pain or trips to the Dr twice a week. Whew!
We spent Christmas in Houston this year with some of Brad's family and it was a blast! There were so many little cousins for the girls to play with and we got the royal treatment since I was pregnant. Actually, we've yet to go to TX not pregnant. Maybe next time. :)
In preparation for our new addition, Addy got a real big girl bed and we moved her crib/toddler bed to the basement. She loves her new bed and loves that it's purple! :)
This pregnancy was especially hard on my back and at the end of January I was finding it really hard to put any weight on my left leg. Naturally, that made taking care of a 3 yr old and a 1 1/2 year old a bit tricky so at the beginning of February my Mom (and then my Dad) came out to help. Their plan was to try to stay in town until our little guy was born so we'd have someone to watch the girls when we were in the hospital. The plan worked but since little man lingered in the womb, they were here waiting, waiting, waiting, longer than they thought they would be. What a blessing! I couldn't have finished out the pregnancy with their help.
So, that's all I can remember of the last four months. Enjoy the pictures!
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