Not Enough Hands

First off, here are a couple of the pictures my awesome sister in law took a few weeks ago:

It was about 100 degrees that day so it was harder than usual to get the kids to smile. Corbie especially had no idea what we were trying to do (as you can tell from the look on her face) but Jess did a great job. I don't have them all back yet, but when I get them I will post some more. (see more of Jessica's pictures at jzauggphotography.blogspot.com)!

A friend of mine was asking me the other day what is the hardest thing about having three kids that are so young. I really had to think about that one. Initially, I wanted to say something obvious like how hard it is just to get across the parking lot carrying a big heavy car seat in one hand, a big heavy (squirmy) toddler in the other arm, my huge diaper bag over my shoulder and all the while begging a very active 3-year-old to stay close and hold onto her brother’s shoe because I just don’t have another hand for her to hold. But then I realized that what has been hardest for me IS that I just don’t have another hand to hold. It kills me sometimes that I just can’t pay attention to everyone at once, I don’t have enough laps for everyone to sit on, enough arms to carry, enough eyes to watch, just not enough ME to go around. The very hardest thing for me about having three babies is that I can’t give all three of them as much attention as I think they deserve.

When Arden was a baby I used to spend hours and hours on the floor playing with her or even just watching her sleep. Those days are so much different than my days today! I am always running back and forth feeding bottles, changing diapers, giving baths, kissing boo-boos, changing clothes, cleaning up, getting snacks, loading/unloading everyone from the car, etc. etc. etc. that I feel like I hardly have any time to just sit on the floor and play. And it makes me feel horribly guilty. But all I can do is take it one day at a time and just try my best to “just keep swimming” (who has seen "Finding Nemo" 27 times? ME!) Sometimes while I am sitting on the couch feeding Corbie a bottle while Arden and Dax are running back and forth making a mess and yelling and laughing, it just hits me how incredibly lucky I am to get to be the mother of these three amazing people! Even though they completely exhaust me.

Which is why I am SOOOOOO thankful to have such an awesome mom and dad who are willing to watch those amazing exhausting people for at least an hour or two almost every weekend. I really don’t know what I would do without my sanity saving date nights. And the kids love it…as soon as Grandma and Grandpa come over, Arden starts saying “Mommy, go! Go away!” And it doesn't even make me feel bad because I am just as happy as she is to see Grandma and Grandpa, and probably even a little bit more :) So THANK YOU mom and dad for keeping us all happy and sane. Finally, Arden has one final nap outfit to show you (see previous posts). This time her ensemble includes a too-small shirt, some too-small pajama bottoms, and yes, a too-small polo shirt being worn as a skirt (don’t ask, I have no idea).

Update to previous post

Here is what Arden decided to wear to nap yesterday....I think the make-up IS a little too much for daytime, don't you? (not to mention the winter penguin pajamas).

I took a picture of her while she was doing her time-out. I guess I need to put a bell on her door or something! She is so quiet and sneaky!!

Crazy kids and a little rant

Arden has started a new ritual. Every day at nap time, after I tuck her in bed, she gets up again and tries to find some new and interesting outfit to put on before she actually goes to sleep. I am always surprised to see what she wakes up wearing. The other day I found her wearing the jeans and t-shirt I put her to bed in...but she had snuck into my room and added one of my t-shirts on over hers and also had some of my underwear on the outside of her jeans. Yesterday she put on a long sleeve t-shirt and put on her fluffiest white church dress over the top. Today, she raided the box in her closet where I put the clothes she has grown out of, and this is what she came up with:

First, she put some old pink corduroy jeans that are now floods. Over this she put a pink floral dress. Next, she added a short-sleeve hoodie. And to complete the look, she put a big pink belt on. Interesting....

Dax can usually be found with the same accessory every day...his blue blanket. He has really become attached to it lately, and carries it around "Linus-style:"

Yesterday we were watching Arden at her gymnastics class and there was another little boy there who had a blanket that kind of looked like Daxton's (We usually leave his blanket at home) and he was on a mission to steal it. Every time I looked down there was sneakly little Dax with the stolen blanket. Good thing he is so dang cute!

Corbie is now 4 months old! Here is her lamb picture:

She is such a sweet little thing, I am not looking forward to taking her to the doctor for her shots tomorrow :(

And finally...Remember a few posts ago when I said how I liked for strangers to come and ask about my babies? I take it all back.

Yesterday I was out shopping for a few things and waiting in the amazingly long checkout line at Costco when the woman behind me in line started talking to me about how close in age Daxton and Corbie are. Usually people just say something like "You sure have your hands full!" or something like that and let it go...but she just kept talking. Finally she asked if they were adopted. Looking back I should have just said something witty and clever like "None of your bees wax!" but since adoption has been such a great thing for our family I am usually not hesitant to talk about it. So I went ahead and told her that that they were. She looked at me and said, "Oh, I knew that you weren't really their mother." I felt like I had just been slapped. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to yell at her, "YES I AM REALLY THEIR MOTHER!!!" but luckily Daxton started his other new favorite thing...screaming like a girl at the top of his lungs and then laughing, so I just turned my attention to trying to get him to quiet down. I know she probably didn't purposefully say that to be mean, but it really hurt my feelings. So this is my little plea to everyone out there to try and think about what you are saying before you say it. There, I feel better now.

I never said she was good at everything

Arden is a very talented girl. She is really good at lots of things...drawing, gymnastics, talking, being a good big sister, etc. etc. One area that she is not naturally gifted in is photography. She is forever wanting to take pictures, but doesn't ever seem to get pictures of much of anything except her fingers. Here are some of her most recent masterpieces:
This one is me on my birthday..or my neck anyway.


I gotta admit that only the finger is her fault in this one. It is getting nearly impossible to take a non-blurry picture of Daxton because he is always on the move.

If you look close at this one you can see a couple of bruises on Daxton's face. Luckily her finger is only blocking me, and she almost got all of Preston in the shot. Dax is a good walker, but doesn't always pay attention to where he is going. Also, the tireder (is that a word?) he is, the clumsier he gets, so he always has a mark on two on his cute little noggin. I am always worried some stranger will think that we beat him and call the cops.

And here is the artiste herself. We went shopping tonight at Target for some quick essentials like bread and milk and somehow came home with these boots. It is a little early for boots, but she talked me into it. She laid a bunch of "Pwetty pwetty pwease?"s on me and the boots were so cute I couldn't resist. I hope they still fit by the time it is actually cold outside. Until then, I guess she can wear them with her shorts :)

Hewwow, would anyone like some wawa?

Daxton is really starting to talk a lot more these last few weeks. I didn't realize how many words he uses until I started making a list of them for an email I am going to send to his birth mom. Sometimes he even makes whole sentences...if you consider "MO NANA!" (More banana!) a sentence, which of course I do. And I am COMPLETELY unbiased.

I was trying to get a few of his words on video, but the little guy usually won't hold still for more than 2 seconds at a time. I did manage to get a few of them out of him though, see video clip below. (warning: Dax threw a little something unplanned into the middle of the clip, but Preston thought it was funny so I left it in. So if your delicate sensibilities are offended, blame the boys.)

Also, whenever Dax is "reading" a book and finishes the last page, he closes the book and says "Uh-en!" It took me a while, but I finally figured out the other day that he is saying "The End!"

As excited as I am about Daxton talking, it is causing a little problem for me. I am starting to talk like him. The other day I asked a friend if she wanted some "Wa-wa" (water) and didn't even realize that I had said anything weird until a few seconds later. Luckily she thought I was joking...but it makes me wonder how many times I have said something that without even noticing. (If I do it in your presence, please pretend you didn't notice).

Sidenonte: In addition to his way with words, Daxton also has some mad dancing skills. Tonight we went to a neighborhood party and there was music playing. Dax was loving it and was dancing around like a crazy man. I was laughing so hard, I wish I would have had my video camera then! Maybe I will try and record some of Daxton's moves and put them in a later post.

Corbie giveth...and Corbie taketh away

Sorry I missed my "at-least-one-post-every-week" goal. I will repent and do better this week. I seem to be running around like crazy all day every day, but nothing terribly exciting happens...my life is just full of baths, bottles, naps, burps, smiles, horsey-rides, time-outs, hugs, tantrums, gymnastics, stories, parks, play dates, diapers, snacks, etc. etc. etc. Anyway....

.

A week or two ago, I fed Cora a bottle right before I went to bed around 11:00 p.m. We were all done and in bed around 11:30. I quickly went to sleep hoping I could get at least four or maybe even (gasp!) FIVE hours of sleep in a row...something that hasn't happened had too much for the last 3 months or so. To our surprise, Cora slept until nearly 6:00 a.m.! I was so happy! "Hooray!" I thought, "She can sleep through the night! Life will be so much easier from now on!" The next night she did nearly the same thing. I thought we were home-free!

I was wrong.

Since those couple of blissful days, Corbie has been getting up at 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m., whatever, and LOUDLY demanding to eat. This morning she was up around 4:30 or 4:45 a.m. and was so loud she woke up Daxton, and he never really went back to sleep.

I know I shouldn't complain. I have friends with babies who didn't sleep through the night until after they were one year old, and Cora isn't even 4 months old yet. But you have to agree that she shouldn't play with my emotions like that, right? It is just cruel to tease me with false hopes of a full night's sleep (or something close) and then just pull the rug out from under me!

But who can be mad at this face?

Maybe tonight will be the night! :)