Other March Photos

For your viewing pleasure... here's just a few other random photos from March:
Elise. Enough said.

Isaac and Elise playing "hospital". According to Isaac - To play "hospital" you go there and get a baby and stay there for weeks and weeks ("a REALLY long time") and you eat food there.

He did this puzzle all on his own!

One day I came into Isaac's room at the end of quiet time to see it completely clean. He was SO proud of himself! He pronounced that he had decided to clean his room as a surprise for quiet time. I guess he knows what mommy likes. :)

Playing with glow sticks in the bathtub.

Creepy spider that we found inside our house. I shrieked. Swept it outside and took a photo (so that I could identify it later) and then KILLED it. Then I came inside and made the kids sit on the couch and watch tv while I cleaned the corner where I had seen it like a mad woman. Then I googled "brown recluse spider" and convinced myself that this was one. I was pretty anxious about it (poor Elise and Isaac were scared and screamed "spider!" every time they saw an ant for days). We saw another spider a few days later - called an exterminator in - who saw my photo and explained that it was a Hobo spider (not a brown recluse - thank goodness!). I've never been so glad to be wrong!

My usual view all day. Doesn't get better than that!

The 3 most handsome men on earth. :)

Jeremy loves Caleb so much and is always so happy to see him when he gets home from work. He tries to spend a lot of time with Caleb each evening. They smile and hang out together. Quality time.

Whew. That's all. The month flew by and was overall a happy (and tiring) month for us. Grateful to all be healthy and happy and adjusting well. Happy March!

Just because...

Coming home from somewhere I looked down at Caleb and my heart just MELTED. He is adorable! I had to take a photo of him right then and there.

Granny Jo!

March 26 - 30th Granny Jo and Natalie came out to Missouri to visit us and to meet CALEB!!!
We were SO glad and excited to have her come! She played with the kids, kept me company, and cooked dinner EVERY NIGHT. She helped clean the house, took an early morning shift with Caleb so that I could sleep, watched all THREE kids so that Jeremy and I could go out on a date, and just generally served us and loved us the entire time she was here. The kids were thrilled to have her and we all love her SO much! Most days we stayed close to home - going to the library, watching Blake's soccer game, learning to play the ukelele (that she brought to give to us and Isaac and Jeremy became obsessed with), going to the park, etc... but one day we had a BIG adventure and went to the Kansas City Zoo. It was so helpful to have her with me as I learned how to get "out and about" with 3 kids. In the evenings Here are some photos from her visit:

Granny Jo, Caleb, Ally, and Elise

Natalie was a huge help as well and we felt so lucky to have her come visit too.

Watching Blake's soccer game.

On the train at the Kansas City Zoo.
(Lilly Chandler - a friend, Isaac, Blake, Michayla, Elise, Natalie)

Granny Jo and Allyson

Caleb and I

It was a great visit!!

Me and my 3 Kiddos

I love these photos. In fact, they may be some of my all-time favorites. Why? Because they are "just" life... beautiful, every day life that so often goes un-captured. Baby in my arms... two little sweet-ums by my side. I love it.

A few thoughts about motherhood and transitioning to 3 kids:

So far. So good. Honestly, the transition has gone a LOT better than I had thought it would. I was prepared for the worst - but mostly I have LOVED it. I can't say that I have loved EVERY moment of it... but overall I have been extremely happy. In fact - so far having 3 kids (in my opinion) has been easier for me than being pregnant was. Sure there are moments of juggling (but I already juggled with 2 kids - so this is just adding another "ball") and there are moments of screaming (again - already had that). Yes, I am often tired... but I have perspective now and I know that it is just a stage that will (eventually!) pass. I feel much more confident and calm in caring for a baby - which is nice. I feel more able to stay calm amidst the screaming and the tantrums and the tears. I feel like I have grown more into the role and identity of "mother". And with Jeremy gone every day from 5:45 am until 6-6:30 pm... I feel like I am learning how to be more independent as a "full-time" mother. I feel like I have had reasonable (read: LOW) expectations for myself - and that I am staying (fairly) on top of things. I mean, I am not deep cleaning - but I am doing laundry, cooking, and keeping the house clean. Sure my kids are watching tv sometimes - but they don't watch tv all the time (or even every day). I shower. I get ready for the day. I read my scriptures DAILY. I nap - often. :) I spend quality time with each of my children.

Sure, I have had a few down days. There have been tears. I have been overwhelmed and wanted to pull my hair out. At least twice I have left the house to get a break in the evening the very moment that Jeremy has gotten home. I have cried once or twice when Jeremy left in the morning. BUT - I feel like I am starting to recognize those moments as just what they are - MOMENTS that will pass - in the middle of a sublimely WONDERFUL life. I am able to take a deep breath and cope better. These hard or down moments are the vast minority of the moments in my daily life as a mother. Because for each hard moment - there are LOTS of glorious moments. There are tears of happiness. Moments of supreme bliss. Moments that I want to linger in. Moments that I want to imprint in my heart and mind forever. Watching Isaac and Elise playing together, cuddling Caleb, all of us being together. THIS is what I am doing with my life right now and I LOVE it. I LOVE being a mother. I am the luckiest. A husband that is the best partner a woman could ever dream of (and my best friend, and handsome, and a great provider on top of all of that!). The gospel. 3 adorable children. Really, I am the luckiest. And that is just the truth of my every day life.

Caleb: 6 weeks

Caleb's First Day at Church

Caleb looked adorable on his first Sunday out to church. (But it was really hard to get a good photo - this is the best we got). Anyway, church with 3 kids was busy - as we had expected. But it went surprisingly better than I thought it would. In fact, it was nice to all sit in the pew at church together. I had really missed that during the last month! So that's it... we are back to church as usual and this handsome little booger is along for the ride. :)

Oh - and while I was taking photos of Caleb I turned around to see Elise trying on my Sunday shoes and Daddy's tie after church...

Awesome.

St. Patty's Day

Green Day!!!
We (mostly Isaac) have been REALLY looking forward to St. Patrick's Day. We started out the morning with traditional green pancakes and green milk. It was a hit!

We spent the morning in assorted St. Patty's Day festivities. We dressed in green. We colored brown paper bags and went on a "green" hunt - filling the bags with all of the green things that we could find. We read a book about the origins of St. Patty's Day and another couple of books about rainbows and pots of gold. We watched Irish Dancing videos on Youtube and practiced their moves. :) We listened to Irish music. Then we painted marshmallows and bread (the paint is food coloring and milk) for a festive lunch. It was a fun and novel day!*

*St. Patty's Day fell on a Saturday this year - and it happened to be the Saturday morning of the Republican caucus in Clay County, Missouri. So Jeremy went to the Caucus and I stayed home with the kids. To make a VERY long story short: Jeremy was very involved at the caucus. Debating with others and even writing a proposed amendment that he presented in front of everyone present. It was a frustrating experience, but he enjoyed being involved and raising his voice for what he believed in. The end.

Obsessed

More photos.
I just want to remember every little feature and every little moment and cherish forever!
I am just sure time is going to go far too fast - he will be grown before I know it!

Love him. Today - Forever - ALWAYS.

The Kix Incident

Every mom needs one of those "brand new box of cereal dumped all over the playroom" moments... right?

The box of Kix had been left in the middle of the kitchen table. Elise took matters into her own hands and climbed up onto the chairs and somehow reached the box. Then she and Isaac grabbed cups and she tried to pour them both some Kix for a snack. And she got a little more than she had bargained for. :) I gave the kids each big bowls and they cleaned up the mess all by themselves. And reminded them to ask mommy when they want a snack.

Oh my. At least they didn't try to add milk?

Sumo Wrestler

The weather has been warming up around here and it was time to go through the "grown-in" boxes and pull out warm weather clothes. It was quite the process... but we actually all enjoyed it. While we were going through things - Elise found this self-flotation swimsuit/jumpsuit... and put it on ALL BY HERSELF. She ran into the room and started making a bunch of silly faces at me... so of course I had to pull out the camera. She had me cracking up!! Silly Elise.