3 Kids Oblivious to Each Other

What's better, crawling, washing a horse, or hiding in a box?

Come check on me

I laid Brielle in bed with a pile of books and said that she could rest a while and I'd come check on her.

5 minutes later she yells, "MOMMY!!"

 I mosey in and look at her and she exclaims, "CHECK on me!"

Brielle informed me that I needed to buy her a ring because she was going to marry Gpa and Nama.

I told Rhya that I hoped a certain couple would get married and she exclaimed, "Yeah, but you can't marry your GIRLFRIEND!!"

Brielle said, "Does Gpa have a carseat?" I said, "Yep, why?" She said, "I go wif him to da restrant in da twuk, Yaiya go wif Nama in da Jetta!" I said, " Oh, well, who's going to pay for it?" She looks at me and says in an obvious voice, "Gpa!"

Rhya started rubbing my belly and then said "I'm making soup!" Guess who has a wiggly belly? How humbling.

Every time something annoying or maddening happens to Brielle she says, "I tell Gpa that!!"

The other day I got after her for spilling her milk (carelessness). The next meal I dribbled while pouring her milk. She IMMEDIATELY announced, "I tell Gpa that you spilled mine milk!"

6 Months Already

Calden is now SIX months. Half a year!! He still feels very much like a little baby. Maybe it's because this is our third time around and we know how fast it goes.

He's trying to keep up with (within reason) his sisters and is sitting very well now with a few topples here and there.

He can get somewhere if he really wants to. A few rolls and scoots usually does the trick.

Food is a priority. He gets all squirmy when he's being held by Mommy and wants to nurse. He can be tricky to hold when he's got something else on his mind. He's also VERY aware that food goes in our mouths at the table and squawks for it. 

The newborn baby days of him sitting snugly on our lap are gone. He's not a huge cuddler but would rather explore. I'm banking on more cuddle days once he hits the 'I am not happy with anyone but Mommy' stage. :-) 

Anything within grabbing distance goes STRAIGHT in his mouth. He also loves to slobber up our faces and giggle up a storm!

Calden is SUCH a happy fellow. Such a small being has snuck right into our hearts and we wouldn't have it any other way!

ps- shutterfly is updated :-)

Just Imagine

Imagine you were young again. Would you be hiding from queens and monsters and bears?

How about playing 'funeral' and walking past your wooden toy box 15 times in a row, pretending it's a casket? Then mournfully sitting on the couch, hand clasped, while the "mommy' plays the piano (who knew night time piano music would turn into a funeral?)

What about holding sermons where the congregation gets to partake of the bread and wine over and over? Then, no limit to how many times you can say 'someone have a hymn?'

Oh what fun it is to enter into this world of endless mind-wanderings. The girls play pretend at least half of their play time. There are babies, kitchen creations, and all sorts of other mock happenings.

Right now the queen is a very big offender. Every single moveable item in the living room is shoved behind the lazy boy because the queen can't see it there. The queen has been known to bite hind ends and chase kids. The girls have to run away very fast, yelling "The QUEEN is coming!!! Hurry!" I have no idea how they decided to have a problem with the poor queen. I hope it doesn't cause bad dreams! :-)

Now, just imagine you have a smiley 5 month old in the house. How does this mom not melt at the sight of him? He is SO INCREDIBLY' happy. Just ask anyone who sits behind us in meeting. They will get BUSTED if they make eye contact because he WILL smile and make happy noises.
I can't believe how much stuff he thinks is just hilarious that the girls do to him. I am about to get after them for pulling his leg to hard but then he starts delightfully laughing.
Calden is at that hilarious stage where he FRANTICALLY tries to grab anything in site. Even as we're walking down the hall and in and out of rooms, he's huffing and puffing, lunging at anything he thinks is even remotely close to his little stretched out, flailing arms.
I was looking forward to the stage of being able to hold him on my hip while he supported himself, but he's too busy lunging at things for that to work.

We are at such a busy, chaotic stage right now, but it's kind of sad to stop and think..."Just Imagine. What will life be like when the kids are grown?" 

Everyone tells us that it goes SO FAST. 

Yep. It does. Everything else can just chill out for a few years while we enjoy our kids to the fullest!

A Visit from Kayla

Our family has GROWN since she was home one year ago!

Rayna will be one next week.

Calden is 5 months old today!

Mom and Dad got a new Great Pyrenees puppy that was 9 weeks old on the picture.

Oh, and AHEM, Kristina will be 30 next week! Couldn't leave that one out.

We soaked up every moment of Kayla's visit. We even had an ITINERARY. :-)

Oh Where, oh Where did our Summer Go?

Sigh. It's been good. Real Good.

These little toes have been bare for most of his life.

Nothing quite like fresh cow's milk for an after-school revival. As our family says, "Thank you, Clydette!"

Barefoot bike ride, lost in her endless wanderings.

Just pondering. This girl does lot of it.

First summer with three. 

Third try for family picture. Too bad Rhya had a swollen cheek.

Soaking up Auntie Jen time. 

Getting better acquainted with Uncle Bill. 

The blog somehow missed most of the summer. You'll have to check out Shutterfly for the full scoop!

Meet Quiet, Reserved, Brielle

....depends on the scenario!

And She's Off

Four year old kindergarten. Who would've thought there'd ever be such a thing?

My Mommy brakes were on big time but Rhya was very enthused. In fact, she wished to wait for the bus by herself (big girl mode) but Brielle and I accompanied her to the end of the driveway.

Brielle asked, "I go to school too peese, Mommy?" She was very sad about it but had enough time to process it that she was fine when the moment actually came for Rhya to go off.

Rhya picked out all of her outfits for the week and combed her own hair for the day (she hardly ever wants her hair down, but that's what she chose)

The bus driver had to wait a looonggg time for her to get up those big steps and sit down. She walked turtle speed and stopped and stared for a while before passing the bus driver. :-) (I think she was waiting for him to say something to her because I had told her ahead of time to wait til he beckoned her in but he was busy talking into his intercom)

Part of me drove away on that bus. 

Rhya is ESPECIALLY lucky because she gets her very own GRANDMA in her 4YK class!! Grandparents day is every day for this girl!

Kid Quotes

Brielle got full eating popcorn and still had a few kernels left on her plate. Off they went, flying through the air, one at a time, and plopping on the floor with a glorious tap. She looked at me, like, whatcha gonna do?
I informed her that she'd be picking them up before she left the kitchen. She pretended to have the greatest time in the kitchen for at least 15 minutes (even though I could tell she wanted to leave). Finally she ran over, picked them up as fast as she could and asked, "Make you happy, Mom?"

Gma Mo generously doled out a piece of gum for each girl before leaving to go home. I reminded Brielle about five times to SPIT it out, NOT swallow it when she was done. She wanted to show me everything she could do with gum. She picked up her milk glass and took a couple of swigs. I asked, 'Brielle, do you still have your gum?" She said, "Yep! Look, Mommy! Bielle's gum is waerpooof (waterproof!)"

Last week I spent a good ten minutes digging craft eyeballs out of Brielle's nose. Yep, there was one in each nostril. I couldn't even see the 2nd one so I showed her how to plug one nostril and blow OUT really hard. She plugged one nostril and breathed IN very ferociously. We finally got the thing out, but evidently she's in an exploratory stage with her body cavities. Yesterday she came up to me with two coins (from Rhya's wallet) and said, "Here Mommy, gum! One a (for) Mommy and one a Bielle!" Then she popped a nickel in her mouth. SCARY!!! The coins will be hiding for a while!

We talk about age quite a bit. The other day I casually told Rhya, "Four is a really fun age!" She responded with, " Yep, I am glad that God did that number."

We went camping with BethArlene and Heidi. Heidi lived with us for a few months a couple of years ago and Rhya got to know her very well. However, two years is a long time to not see someone for a 4 year old, so it took Rhya a few hours to get acquainted. The next morning she told Heidi, "I didn't know you very well before, but I know you now! I like you. That's why I follow you EVERYWHERE" :-)
Heidi and BethArlene sure knew what it was to have sidekicks on that vacation!

Calden at 11 Weeks, 14 pounds

Our happy boy smiles and coos at anyone who will coo in his face

He has pulled about 6 all nighters (12 hours straight!), but usually wakes up once (sometimes twice) for a refill. He always goes right back down. I nurse him in bed so we both hardly wake up. Sometimes I forget to put him back in his bedside bassinet so he gets snuggle time in the big bed. :-)

Little peanut is still very portable and sleeps on the go. Thanks to the Moby wrap, we've had a lot of successful outings. He's ALWAYS happy in it. The car seat is usually only acceptable when the van is moving, but he's stayed sleeping in it through meeting and other events a few times.

He LOVES to look around. When he's in the exploring mood his little breaths get fast and excited and his head goes back and forth over and over as he tries to see everything in his range. Usually his arms and legs start pumping!

We both LOVE diaper changes. He gets to happily relieve himself on the potty chair while I get to save on diapers and 'discuss life' with my baby while he's on the pot. I am SO GLAD that I discovered the concept of Elimination Communication. It has worked wonders with all three kids.  

He seems to enjoy most of his big sister's antics and doesn't mind their 'clumsier' forms of showing love (suffocating hugs, paci shoved way too far in, zero personal bubble room). Calden loves to watch them and still tolerates being held by his biggest sister. He is not a fan of being set down unless someone is there to humor him!

We went through the first nine weeks with only a couple of bibs as he wasn't much of a spitter. I need to buy about 15 bibs now, as he is constantly drooling. A shirt won't go two minutes without getting wet!

Calden has been WIDE eyed ever since birth. When he's awake his eyes are usually open as far as possible. It was amusing at first but now we're used to it and I hardly notice. It's just his normal, I guess!

So far, he's built very similar to his sisters with not much chunckiness. He has long thin legs, arms, and fingers. The only pudge that stands out is the adorable, squishy little double chin that he was born with. I wonder if he'll end up with brown eyes as they are a lot darker than Rhya and Brielle's light blue eyes.

Life seems so normal and comfortable and so very special with another little being! Oh to freeze and replay all of the adorable/precious/funny moments with our little loves. 

Perfect Solution

The other day Rhya was being a stinker and she knew it. Brielle was trying to take a nap, I was nursing Calden, and Rhya was supposed to be having quiet time on her bunk.
She was yelling kicking, and carrying on something fierce. Then she cried out, "Why can't you just PRETEND I am being good??!"

Dream Land

Rhya is a little dreamer lately.
Last night it was a bee. She was yelling at the top of her lungs, "It's a BEE!!! On my knee!! It's trying to lay HONEY!!"
She was scared out of her whits. Nate dealt with it so I don't know the specifics.
The first thing Rhya said when she stumbled out of bed this morning was, "There was a bee in my bed last night. It was trying to lay honey on my knee. Then Daddy covered me up really tight so it couldn't lay any more honey!"

On another note, Rhya has been sporting these glasses lately. Her Nama brought the old drug store specs to our garage sale to get rid of but Rhya claimed them. She calls them her 'school girl glasses' and regularly shines them up real good. She acts all grown up when she's wearing them and makes sure to look us right in the eyes and nod her just 'just so' and purse her lips to perfection.

Pumping a swing is on her agenda this summer. She likes to practice and show me how high she can go. 80 year old Great Gma Betty practiced with her last weekend. They were both deep in concentration.

Rhya can check off learning how to ride a bike from her list of childhood accomplishments. We decided to ditch the balance bike and dig out the real thing and she was on her own in 20 minutes. Balance bikes are THE ANSWER. Rhya is SO EXCITED to ride her 'pedal bike', as she calls it. The driveway is getting well used!

We continue to melt in this little one's eyes. He willingly dishes out adorable coos and eye sparkling smiles. He is incredibly content. There has never been an ounce of jealousy. Our whole family is quite smitten!

Well, let's say there may be a bit of jealousy, but it comes out in minor forms, like pretending the lid of a sippy is a paci:

Photo Book

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Getting used to our new 'Normal'

Sometimes I wonder what it's going to feel like to not have much 'change' in life when we get older. 

First, it's childhood. Then it's school and growing up and making college choices, occupation choices, spouse choices, home choices, family choices....

It feels like I am just sitting back and watching my life whir by. Then one day I will look back and wonder what happened to all of those super fast, super fleeting, super PRECIOUS moments and memories.

Like babies. He's over two weeks old. REALLY?? Already? I have a TWO year old and FOUR year old? Since when was I old enough to have three kids? ha.

 Anyway, maybe it's these wacko post pregnancy hormones, but it's been SO SWEET to soak up all of this baby love. I feel like I have to fight over him with my girls. They love him to pieces. They (especially Rhya) charge over to him whenever they hear him cry. 

Brielle is finally starting to get his name down pat. Up until now, a couple of times per day she'll ask to hold him. She gets close, and then requests, "Mommy, hold THIS" and holds out her arms. I laugh and say, "What is THIS' name?" She smirks and says, "CooKAcokeeCOCKOO" I say, "Can you say 'CALL' 'DEN'?" She repeats it and gets to hold him. 

New Life

We are beyond pleased to welcome child number three to our family!

Calden Lewis

9 pounds, 10 ounces, 22 inches long

Born 4:35 PM on Tuesday, May 27

Labor went better than expected, as I woke up early Tuesday morning with minor contractions. Nate went to work and I did chores and other duties as normal, just stopping during the contractions.
I decided to ask Nate to come home from work early. Kristina arrived at 1:30 to watch the girls, and we got to the hospital at 2:15. It was a 45 min drive, so i didn't want to leave too late and have an awful drive in. The drive wasn't fun, but we made it!
To our surprise, the nurse checked for dilation and said that I was fully dilated! Our awesome midwife arrived and I labored in the tub for a couple of hours until my water broke. A few pushes later Calden made his grand appearance. He was a loud one and cleared himself out NO problem!

My parents brought the girls the next day. Brielle didn't quite know what to do at first, and Rhya was full of questions. 

Brielle found Calden to be fascinating. She was super gentle and periodically leaned over to give him tiny little kisses.

Rhya has never once forgotten his name since we called with the news. Her Gpa thought he'd keep her freshened up on it so asked her the name every now and then throughout the first day. After about the fourth time, she responded, "It's CALDEN! Why are you having such a hard time remembering, Gpa?" :-)

Daddy and his boy. We got Daddy with us for the whole first week of Calden's life!