Summer Days

Starting with the sad news....Lucy has not been quite the same since I returned from my trip. I thought she was a bad nurser before but surprisingly, she was able to get worse. Feeding times were a mess so now I am currently only pumping. Isn't it ironic that now that I am not working and am perfectly able to nurse I have a baby that doesn't like to nurse? Part of the problem, I think, is that she got used to getting milk faster from a bottle. And the other part, I don't produce enough milk for her in the afternoon. And although I hate pumping and wanna just switch to formula, I may not be able to do that. She has been a hot mess lately and I think it might be because her tummy doesn't agree with the formula I was supplementing my milk with...or it could just be teething. I wish she could just tell me what's wrong :(

And on a sillier note...My boys:

Ben's new favorite way to get my attention? By saying "mom" softly, then a bit louder, and then even louder until he is practically shouting "MOM!" And he will only stop once I look at him and say something to him. Oh my goodness it can be frustrating when I am in the middle of something and he starts his tirade but at the same time, I must confess it's kind of adorable. I just wish he would understand that (unfortunately for him) I can't just drop everything and cater to him the second he needs me. I know, what kind of mom am I!?

Other tid bit about Ben...He is always putting on his clothes backwards! Always. No matter how many times I try to show him the right way. We got the VVL Clubhouse last week and were swimming when I realized his swim trunks were backwards and since I'm such a wonderful mom, I left them that way. And right now, as I write this, he has his "don't bug me" shirt on backwards. But on the bright side his shorts and underwear are on the correct way :) 

Steven informed me this week that when he grows up he wants to be a Walmart guy so he can bag people's stuff. That kid has big goals huh!? Tyler thinks I need to stop going to Walmart so much....

Also, Steven is now drawing bodies and arms on his people. I love that he loves to draw so much! It's fun to see his imagination "come to life." And if you know him at all, you know it's a big one!

And something new to us (as of the last couple weeks) is having a teenage babysitter over while I tutor. It's been so nice not having to make the drive to my mom's house and thankfully the kids have got along well with her. I just have to always remind myself to pay her :) I'm not used to doing that, sorry mom!

April Updates

Lucy modeling all her new hair flowers:

My little Lucy girl continues to roll like crazy and is doing better at rolling herself off her tummy and onto her back. She also loves to squeal and shriek. When she's done nursing she doesn't just pull of, she screams like a banshee. Night time is better but still not perfect. USUALLY she sleeps from 9pm-5am and then she'll go back to bed and wake up somewhere between 7 & 8am. But I still have some nights where she wakes up before 5am and I have to go give her a hug and then let her cry it out. Thankfully she only cries for a little bit before falling back asleep.

Her nursing times have been pretty consistent (although I may have just cursed that fact by saying that). She nurses for 10-15minutes around 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm. 

Yes, that is underwear on Steven's head. Last week I bought him new Lego Batman underwear while he was in preschool. I put it on his car seat and when I picked him you would've thought that was the best present ever! He went on and on about how he wanted that and how did I know? And did Benny pick it? And can he really keep it? He was SO excited, it was hilarious!

Steven is SO inquisitive, my mom was telling me about a comic strip that had a ghost in it by a mailbox and so Steven asked, "Is there a ghost in your mailbox Grandma?" I told him, "Yes" and suddenly Grandma was bombarded with questions: "Where is the ghost now?" "What does it do?" "Will it come to my mailbox?" "Can I see it?" This kid is going to drive his teachers nuts!

His inquisitiveness also led to nice bruise on his forehead. What happens when I open all 4 drawers of my tall dresser at the same time? It falls on my head!

Do you remember the picture of the "nest" I showed awhile back!? It is basically a bunch of blankets that Steven piled on the floor in his room. Well, since creating his "nest" he has not slept in his own bed. He literally only sleeps in his nest. A little odd, I know.

And the picture below is Steven showing how his new nail polish tastes. I bought some bitter nail polish and painted his thumbs with it and so far it has been a success. I have seen NO thumb sucking! At sacrament Sunday he did put his thumb into his mouth and immediately pulled it out and made that face. He then wanted to take several of the water cups and was not too happy about having to wait to go get a drink.

 And here's my silly Benny! I love this kid but we had a rough start to this week with him regressing on Sunday and having quite a few accidents. But after getting naughty spray twice on Monday (I know I'm evil), he finally stopped having accidents and is back to keeping his underwear dry.

And on that note. Ben is constantly putting his underwear and/or shorts backwards. You would think it would be quite uncomfortable to have your underwear on backwards but for some reason it doesn't bother him. 

Our new chores have been a learning experience for Ben. It has been challenging to get him to figure out how to properly clean a toilet and to teach him NOT to wipe his hands with the Clorox wipe when he's done. It was also a challenge to get him to put his clothing in the proper drawers. But today we had some success- he cleaned all the parts of the toilet without me telling him which ones to wipe. I was so proud!

Ben loves his brother (even if he tortures him constantly) and had to put underwear on his head just like Steven. Don't worry, that pair is clean ;) He also loves to copy his brother. Any story that Steven tells, a second later you can typically count on Ben telling you the same story. 

Lucy Lou

Today I attempted to feed Lucy her first "solid" (aka really liquidy baby cereal). The attempt was very unsuccessful. That adorable tongue of hers pushed out any solid that tried to enter her mouth. I am partially relieved because now I don't have to worry about feeding her at each meal- one less thing to do.

Lucy (and her brothers) all got a bad case of pink eye yesterday. It's funny because Lucy doesn't cry one bit when I give her the eye drops but they boys throw royal fits and bawl like I am murdering them when I give them theirs. That's my tough girl!!

Lucy is still not sleeping through the night and doesn't have any consistency with nights either (I think I had said she did but this girl loves to prove me wrong- she doesn't). Some nights she'll just wake up once (anytime between 1:30&4:30). Other nights she's up twice (once between 1:30 &3:30 and the second time being somewhere between 4&5:30). I know it's probably time to enlist the cry it out method with her but it is SO hard to do! 

Since she doesn't have a consistent initial wake up time (it's anywhere between 6:30 & 8:30) her schedule doesn't have consistent times. BUT she does follow a consistent "routine." She nurses (usually for 10-20 minutes total) and then is awake for 2 hours and then naps for 1-2 hours (so she nurses every 3-4 hours). She usually takes 3 naps throughout the day. And then at night she typically cluster feeds- will eat between 6&7 and then eat again around 8:30.

This week Lucy has turned into a rolling machine! Back to front, front to back- whichever, whenever! She rolls over at least once a day! I am so hoping that this means that she will be more like Steven with crawling and walking so that she won't be over 1 before she can run away from her brothers!

Moments

Before going to church Sunday Ben fell down a few steps- it was quite tragic. As I was fixing my hair I overheard Steven say to Ben: "Were you mean!? Is that why mommy pushed you down the stairs!?" Thankfully Benny stuck up for me & responded: "No, I pushed myself down the stairs."

If you happen to run into Ben, you should ask him to sing Taylor Swifts "We are never getting back together." I randomly overheard him singing it the other day- totally cute! I had no idea he was paying such close attention to the words.

Valentine's was this week and though I didn't make pink, heart shaped pancakes for breakfast or cut my sons' sandwiches into hearts- I did buy them a little fountain and a little box of candy both of which they loved so kudos to me! 

Preschool was at my house this week. It was lots of fun! We played "Don't Eat Pete", BINGO, made Valentine Bags & Heart Monsters & decorated heart sugar cookies.  When it was over on Wednesday and one of Steven's friends was leaving, Steven grabbed a Coke bottle (Tyler had left them sitting by the door) & said, "Here, you can have this" That gesture was not appreciated by the child's mother.

I was laying down with Ben at nap time and Steven, who doesn't take naps but doesn't want to be left alone, suddenly cracked open the door and started to make whistling sounds through the crack. It seemed he wanted me to come out.

And this week we have been blessed to have Brian, Pattie, Leia & Brice staying with us. When I asked the boys who was going to marry Leia, Steven said, "I am!" and then Ben said, "No! I am!" And so the fighting over her has begun. But Lucy has it easy since she has no one to compete against for Brice :)

This week Lucy rolled over from her tummy to her back! It may not have happened again yet but it was still exciting! She is also really getting into her toys- it's fun to watch her grab a rattle or a doll and try to control her movements with it. (BTW she nursed a little better this week but we're still not 100% free of fussy nursing)

And I will end with a fun picture of my kids all dressed up for a Brian's sister's wedding reception...

Complaints

I tend to be to wordy when I complain so I will make a few abbreviated complaints- and then I will try to let go and be more positive!

1) My boss is frustrating me because she's giving me grief about paying me $100/month for rent, insurance, supplies. She just wants to pay for insurance and supplies and doesn't seem to think that using my house for her tutoring company warrants rent (Rebekka also tutors out of my home). She also wants to tell me exactly what to buy with the money (like a rug & a divider for the room, neither I feel necessary).

2) I just registered Steven for full day Kindergarten next year and that makes me sad because if I am still on this tutoring schedule I will never see my Steven. But I don't want him to behind academically and he doesn't learn well from me.

3) I cut off a sliver of my thumb this week with a kitchen knife and it was hard to go through most of the week without being able to use one of my thumbs normally.

4) I wish Lucy would just nurse normally again and not constantly be screaming at me when I try to feed her. It stresses me out!

And the complaints are done so I will end with a sweet story:

We had just dropped Steven off at preschool & Ben asked me why Steven had to go to preschool. I told him he needed to go there to learn (about "Sponge Bob" right!?). Ben replied, "But he's my friend and I NEED him!" Obviously I won't be the only one missing Steven next year!

News From the Week

My little Lucy Bear has been quite the bear this past week. She is not nursing well. About half the feedings a day she will nurse for a very short amount of time ( 5-10 min's total) and then refuse to eat. I'm not quite sure what's going on. I thought it could be my diet but something I eat may not bother her one day but I can eat the same thing the next day and she's bothered. Then I thought maybe it was reflux but the medicine the doctor gave me doesn't seem to help either. So I am not sure what her deal is. If she wasn't so chubby I would be more concerned but when you look at all her rolls it's hard to be concerned. 

Also this week she has been very into sucking on her hand. She has gotten a hold of her thumb a few times but I caught her in the picture below sucking her ring finger and middle finger- the fingers of my choice when I was a baby...

Steven has made me proud this week- he memorized the first article of faith and mostly learned "I am a Child of God". I even captured it on video tape so I have proof should he choose to be stubborn or forgot he knows such things! Also this week he got a letter from his Aunt Mariah who is currently at the MTC but will be in Minneapolis Minnesota by the end of this week. She drew him an awesome picture of the tooth fairy paying him a visit and though he LOVED getting mail from and he carried it around proudly for the rest of the day, he was quick to point out her mistakes in the drawing- #1: He doesn't have black hair & #2: He has a bunk bed, not a single bed. Oh the little turkey.

And in the picture below, Steven made his own preschool for babies. He was not wearing pants so he decided that this was a "No pants allowed" preschool & he would put that sign on the doorway. He was super cute about the whole things so I had to snap a picture.

Oh my Benny has been lots of drama lately and the pictures below capture this perfectly. However, I am also proud of Benny because for a 2 year old he has done a pretty good job learning the first article of faith. He may not have it perfectly like Steven but he can say "We believe in God & in the Holy Ghost!" when he's willing. It's cuteness! And lately I've been realizing what a poor middle child he really is. I can never think of fun stories to tell about him. All I can ever think to say is that he's drama...Poor middle child Ben :(

And as for me & Tyler---well Tyler has been even more busy this semester if that's possible. I really feel like his Scouts get to see him more than me since they get him on camp outs. I maybe saw him for a total of 3 hours this week!? It's been hard because I don't do well at being a single, working mother- I need support! But I've been working at getting up earlier so that I don't start off the morning feeling frazzled and that's been helping some. However, then I'm exhausted which makes me emotional SO....It feels hard to win sometimes. I am grateful I am not working full time anymore though or subbing anymore because then I know all this would be even harder. AND for some BIG news- Tyler might actually graduate this December instead of May 2014. He will just have to take a class in summer school & make sure he passes all his classes. I REALLY hope that happens because I would love for that light at the end of the tunnel to be that much closer. That would be wonderful!

Lucy Lou at 5 Weeks

I've decided maybe it's pointless to try and keep weekly updates on Lucy's feeding schedule since every time I think we actually have a schedule or things are going especially great I find out I am terrible wrong. 

For example, there were two nights when she had a 7 hour stretch between feeding and I got all excited about it (she ate around 8:30 & then woke up at 3:30) and then...she went back to waking up twice during the night )12:30, 3:30) . She is only 5 weeks but I sure would've loved her to only wake up once during the night, it was beautiful. 

Anyways she will get me thinking that we have a good consistent schedule or that she is doing perfectly with the eat-wake-sleep thing or that she is an excellent napper and then she'll throw in a bad day or 2  where she doesn't cooperate with anything or one that changes the whole schedule permanently. So, note to self, no permanent schedule or greatness at 5 weeks. Maybe at 8 weeks?

And here are some adorable pictures of Lucy all dressed up for her first 3 hour church day. She did so good at church and so did the boys. It was a good Sunday :)

4 Weeks

Lucy is 4 weeks old today! I hope I don't jinx things but the last 4 nights have been really great- so much better than before. She does her last feeding around 8:30/9:30 & then doesn't wake up until about 12:30/1:30 & then 3:30/4:30 & then she's up officially around 6:30/7:30. So officially she only wakes up about twice in the night.

And the best part of nights now is that when I put her down after feeding her, she sleeps! Before I had to rock her forever to get her to sleep without whining but now as long as she's swaddled really well I can just hold her for a few minutes after nursing her, put her down, and she's out with no tears. So nice and I hope this continues and we don't regress at all. 

During the day Lucy is doing better at the eat-wake-sleep thing. She is never awake long after eating (usually just 30 minutes) but at least she's awake after eating without me having to hassle her too much. However, she tends to be fussy during the wake part which I'm not so happy about. I'm thinking she may have gas issues so that's definitely something I will talk to the dr about if it doesn't improve soon....And like at night, the sleep thing has gotten better. No more rocking, just swaddling and then down in her bed for a nap. Unlike night though, she does fuss sometimes but usually no more than 10 minutes of fussing and she's asleep.

As I said, hopefully I haven't jinxed all the good things that are happening because she really is doing so much better with everything and I would like things to continue that way.

And after a crazy day yesterday ( I took all 3 kids grocery shopping with me- I must be nuts!), I decided we needed to go somewhere that calms me so I took my 3 little ones to see the Mesa Temple Lights. It was such a great idea- Lucy slept the whole time and the boys had so much fun- they kept pointing to different lights and saying "Look!"  I so needed to spend some time with my boys where I was not yelling at them and just enjoying being with them. It was a great night!

Adjusting

As predicted, this week was a lot harder than the last. I was on my own with my 3 kids a lot more this week and I actually had to cook a few dinners- shocking ;)!

I think out of my 2 boys, Steven is having a lot harder time adjusting to Lucy. He gets emotional a lot more than normal and he has a hard time with loving Lucy softly. Plus he caught a cold this week so he is not loving that I make him keep his germs away from Lucy. He just wants to breathe them all over her. Thankfully I only had one night with Steven up coughing (of course it wasn't when I was already up with Lucy but instead in between feedings) then I was able to stop the night coughing with the breathing machine- oh how I love the breathing machine!

Ben, on the other hand, seems like same old Ben. He still gets whiny over silly things (nothing new) but he is pretty good at showing his love for Lucy gently and he doesn't seem extra emotional. However, they both like to bring out monster mommy at least once a day (typically in the afternoon)- I can't wait until my hormones return to normal!

Trying to do the Baby Wise schedule with Lucy also added stress to this week. She is so hard to wake up after eating and then once I get her up, she is difficult to get back to sleep. I'm not 100% sure that it's worth all the effort...she did sleep better a few nights but there were still a couple nights with her waking up fussy and hard to put back to sleep. It does seem to help her nurse more regularly during the day though. She has stopped snacking completely and is still typically nursing every 2.5-3 hours which is nice. Every once in awhile she wants to nurse after 2 hours but that is ok with me. Benny was every 2 hours ALWAYS so I can take Lucy's every 2 hours sometimes...

I am sad that this will be my last week off from tutoring. I still haven't started pumping or introducing the bottle to Lucy so I just don't feel like I'll be ready to return in a week. Plus I am SO exhausted that I don't know how I am going to be a useful tutor. Hopefully I survive!

1 Week & 4 Days Down

I survived my first week as a mother of 3! Mostly I survived because of great friends and family who fed us and helped out with my boys. I think week 2 might be a little trickier now that I'll actually have to cook again and take care of my boys on my own but I can do this right!?

Lucy Lou has slept away most of her first week. Her nursing was irregular at first- some days & nights she would snack every hour or two, other days she would have full nursing sessions (10 minutes each side) every 3 hours and then some days & nights were a mixture of both. I hated it when she snack fed but she was impossible to wake and she was gaining weight regularly (she was 7 lbs 12 oz when we left the hospital and weighed 8 lbs 6 oz at her doctor's appointment) so I let it be. Thankfully she hasn't snack fed for the past few days and has been doing nice full sessions every 2-3 hours- typically every 3 hours.

Our biggest problem now is that she has her nights and days mixed up. She sleeps most of the day and then wakes up around what should be my bedtime and is impossible to get to sleep. Today I have been trying to get her on the Baby Wise schedule- eat, wake, sleep- but it is SO hard when I have 2 other boys who take my attention away from her when I am trying to wake her up or try to wake her up when she should be sleeping. I am hoping that I can get it down anyhow and that will help her sleep through the night again. Fingers crossed!

When Lucy is awake she tends to be fussy (part of the reason I had been letting her sleep most of the day). She does take a pacifier which helps to soothe her, she likes to be rocked and swaddled and snuggles with Tyler & me help too.

Lucy Lou has some crazy explosive bowel movements so instead of the worries we had with the boys of getting peed on, now we have to worry about getting pooped on. Yes, I have been pooped on and her poop has shot across the room and landed on our bed twice now. I am sure she will be happy when I share this fact with her future boyfriends :)

As challenging as babies are and as sleep deprived as they make me I do love my sweet little girl and am super happy being a mother of 3 silly children!