I want to remember...

Casey's enthusiasm over this pregnancy. Since the first appointment where we heard the heartbeat, Casey has been so excited about having another baby on the way. That afternoon he told a babysitter, "I saw my baby today." And at subsequent appointments, his face is always lit up with so much joy as we listen to the heartbeat gently thumping away. 

Now that we know it is a boy, he often says, "I love my baby boy." For about a week he begged me to sleep in the nursery (there is a twin bed in there as it also serves as our guest room). I asked him why and he simply said again, "Because I love my baby boy." 

So I finally let him and I think we are going on night 5 or 6 and he asked if he could sleep there for lots of days. I find him staring at the framed sonogram picture on the nightstand. 

The first night he slept in there, I placed a white noise machine on the nightstand while he was brushing his teeth and turned it on. When he came in, I was leaving the room, but saw him walk over to it, smile and say, "yes" then hopped into bed. It was like, "yep, all set now." 

It is so interesting and sweet to me because for his birthday in November he got a new quilt that has baseballs and footballs, etc all over it and it is on his bed which is on the top bunk in the kids room. He loves that quilt. Also for Christmas, he got a bunch of Planes decals that we put on the ceiling above his bed which he loves to look at. But he has given it all up to sleep alone in the nursery!!!

Finally, the other night while reading books, we got to an Angelina Ballerina one, and he turned and told me, "the baby doesn't like this one. Boys don't like ballerinas." And he told the baby to just cover his ears.

When you're the best of friends

.....you do everything together.

I love how they wait for each other to do things, ask for the other one, and dislike being apart. It reminds me of my siblings when we were little. You truly are best playmates! Even the quarrelling, and not wanting to share, you learn how to get along and work things out. These two are not capable of working it out themselves most of the time, lots of parental intervention needed still, but they'll get there :)

Adjusting to 3

I know we are just 7 weeks out, but I'm gonna say it. Adjusting to 3 kids has not been that bad. Like, at all. I am no supermom, and my kids are rascals just like everyone else's. But the transition from 2 to 3, has been so much easier than the transition from 1 to 2. And the difference is that Hailey and Casey have each other. Yes, they are best friends one minute, and enemies the next....but! They have each other! When Casey was a baby, all Hailey had was me. But now, she and Casey are playmates for one another and it is wonderful. I can also still be super involved while nursing. I have a swivel lazy boy rocker in the living room and I love it. I can face toward to "living room" or the "play area" and wherever they are, I can supervise their play - aka, end fights and enforce sharing. They build me towers with their leggos and blocks and color me lots of pictures. Hailey plays dolls, Casey plays cars, and just by talking to them and encouraging their play, they know that Mommy is paying attention to them too.

I have had the easiest adjustment and transition period yet and I think the sibling factor is the x-factor. Also, the more kids I have the more of my selfishness dies. It has to. There are more people needing me now more than ever and dying to self maybe has gotten a smidgen easier the less time I have for little ol' me. These kids really have a way of sanctifying me!

But here are some samples of things I now find myself doing as a mother of three:

When Hailey and Casey get up at 7am, and Owen isn't due to wake up till 8am, I might be tempted to put on a show for them and lay in bed that extra hour. But then remembering that when Owen wakes up at 8am, and the older kids show is over, they are ALL going to be wanting me at the same time. Or at least food, and I have to get it for them. H and C will want breakfast, which, if left alone only spells disaster, and Owen will want to nurse. So instead, I get up at 7am, and when changing Casey's diaper, and taking off Hailey's night time pull up, I put them in their clothes for the day. Yep, they are dressed and ready to go at 7am. Hey, as long as I'm changing them I might as well do it all at once. It goes faster too. And clothes stay in the bedroom. If I don't do it then, it won't happen till like 10am. Which sure, is ok, but then they run from me, wiggle more, pj's are all over the house. Ridiculous. After they are dressed, then I put on the show, give them some juice and get in the shower. When I'm dressed for the day, we all eat breakfast and then, as if on cue, Owen wakes up. Of course every day looks a little different and Luke does mornings 98% of the time. But getting your kids dressed at 7am, just might be one of the things you find yourself doing when you have three. It also then actually makes it possible to get somewhere like storytime or playgroup by 10am.

With three children we all of a sudden have a toilet paper crisis daily. Two causes here, named Hailey and Casey. Hailey now, by necessity, goes to the potty unsupervised. This happens when I'm nursing, which is often. She uses the potty....and a half roll of toilet paper. We are training her in the ways of using less. It's a work in progress. Casey, by way of escape and my inability to follow him, because you guessed it - nursing - finds his way into the bathroom after Hailey uses it (she doesn't remember to close the door which he still can't open) and he unrolls the other half of toilet paper.

And lastly, creative and strategic discipline. Newborns are needy and time consuming. Which makes enforcing effective disciple a challenge at times. I've been reading "Discipline, a Gift that Lasts a Lifetime" by Dr. Ray Guarendi and one of his tips is better to say nothing when you aren't sure how to discipline, or unable to (because hey, you might be nursing!) than give an empty threat and loose credibility. It might look or seem like they are getting away with things but really it's a matter of timing. I can't physically put Hailey in time out when I'm with Owen. And if I tell her, "do that one more time and you are going in time out," and she does whatever it is, one more time, guess what? Not going to timeout on her own. (sometimes she will, but not always) So I've had to choose my battles more carefully, use different tactics to get them to listen and obey, and when I am able to give them a consequence, be consistent and make it count.

We have had some really hard days, but I'm learning a lot every day, and mostly if they just know that I love them, that they are important, and what they care about matters to me, our days go so much more smoothly. And seriously, siblings are where it's at. So thankful we have been able to give our children that gift!

32 weeks and counting

So, baby is 32 weeks old this week! I'm starting to get really excited. And have moments of freaking out. And then go back to being really excited. I mean, you are excited all along, but as it gets closer and this little person is seriously getting their grove on all.the.time...and making you pee every 10 minutes and you can touch your belly and feel parts of their body and feel them hiccuping....it becomes VERY real that they will be here soon! I'm aching to hold and snuggle and nurse him. I love nursing my babies. Yes, it's time consuming, and I freak out thinking about what in the world the older siblings will be doing while I'm nursing all day long and how I will keep them happy and occupied. But I can't stop thinking about this little boy about to join our family. What will he look like? How is Casey going to react to him? Hailey is a pro at this big sister thing and acts like he's here already with how much she interacts with my belly, so I'm not as concerned about her.

Sunday Mass attire

side veiw, comfy lounging evening wear

I have been dreaming about his birth literally almost every night. In a good way, not weird or anxious. Some days 8 more weeks feels like an eternity and some days it feels like it could be here tomorrow. Mostly on the days I feel blah and my hips hurt and I get heartburn 5 minutes after eating lasagna I think "how in the world am I going to do this for 8 more weeks?" And it's going to get harder! My sweet husband reminded me, "you've done it twice already." At that point I think I became a puddle of tears and hugged and thanked him.

Oh yes, did I mention emotional? I feel like my mood swings are back to super crazy. Beginning and end of pregnancies seem to be worse for me in this area. The 2nd trimester is thankfully a breeze. But goodness gracious. I can cry at the drop of a hat these days. Or because I forgot blueberries at the store. Luke, who was doing work on his computer got up saying, "its ok, I'll go back and get them for you." Making me cry more....why is he being so wonderful? 

In fact, did you know that a man's testosterone decreases right before the arrival of a new baby and after? I think it's God's way of softening him a bit to meet the needs of his wife and new baby. Thank you Jesus.

Now I'm off to eat a bowl of cereal. Followed by tums I'm sure.

And we're having......

a boy!!

I was definitely surprised. With all the morning sickness I had during the first trimester, I was certain it was a girl, as I had the same experience with Hailey. But I was wrong! Either way, it really doesn't matter. We are so happy and excited and I think Casey is going to love having a little brother close in age to him. And Hailey is such a little mommy, she is going to just shower this baby with love, want to be my helper all the time and will probably continue to boss around her little brothers.