Tori is 5 Months

Tori is such a happy delightful baby! We have truly been blessed and I wish she could stay my sweet "baby-doll!" But we are seeing the early bits of her personality and it is so much fun! She loves her "Molly Dolly" and Sophie and any other stuffed animals and will reach out for them! She can roll over to her back and to her belly but won't do it on request. She likes to suck on her left toes and her left thumb occasionally. She is still drooling like crazy but does not have any teeth yet. She is starting to sit but not without frequently toppling over. She loves to be around her brothers and watch them play or 'talk' to them. We haven't started giving her 'food' yet but she likes to sit in the highchair during mealtimes to socialize with us. 

It has been a crazy last few months and I predict it is only going to get crazier once Little Missy starts moving! Ahhh- I can't even think about that yet, but I know it won't be long!

Disneyland

 We went to Disneyland with all 3 kids... and survived! Funny, but I wanted to go for MY birthday! I wanted to see the looks on their precious faces when they met the characters... before their old enough to understand they are all just costumes and that it's not magic. And even though my 4 year old 'knew' they were all in costume he was still amazed and in awe!


This is our first night. We headed to Downtown Disney to eat and shop after our 6 hour car ride to Anahiem. I wish their had been a good place for the boys to stretch their legs after the car ride, but I understand their lack of a park (slides, swings, etc.) - it would be too crazy. So after the long car ride and sitting at dinner we attempted to walk around but it was so crowded. We went back to the near-Disney hotel and slept pretty well. 

 This is our family meeting Minnie Mouse and our sweet girl LOVING Minnie!

  

And our awesome boys loving their chocolate ice cream cones! And yes that is the creation made per Drew's request  ... "can you add a cherry" and "the fluffy white, pfffffttt stuff from a can" (aka whip cream), "oh and sprinkles!" He knows just what he wants and is not scared to ask for it! Glad that everyone at Disney was so happy to make their day!   

Goodbye Disneyland! So glad we went and SO glad when it was over because we were thoroughly exhausted! Yes I did put names on our shirts- they were just iron on but I wanted to make the occasion special and I also thought it might help if a boy got lost. :)

Baby T is 3 months

T's 3 month picture taken 2 days late because we have been so busy! I did take a picture of her on the 13th in her jammies because I remembered right before bed to get a picture- but she was so tired and ready for bed. She weighs 14 lb 2 oz (almost double her birth weight)!

 We took a trip to LA to visit the beach at the beginning of August and had so much fun! Everyone loved the beach even more than I expected them to. And the first family road trip in the mini van went wonderfully. We can't wait to go back- wish we could go every weekend to escape the Las Vegas heat. 

Tis now sleeping in her crib at night from 9pm-6am most nights and she is definitely not a newborn anymore, but she is laughing and cooing and really beginning to engage. I can't believe we have been living in Vegas for 4 1/2 months now and once preschool starts in another week, I know that time is going to start flying. 

Baby T is 2 Months

We have been blessed with a wonderfully happy baby girl. Some things have fallen right into place while other aspects of our life have struggled. 
Sleep- I would say this is one area where I have been doing pretty well. Wohoo- and probably due to the co-sleeping (see previous post). Baby T has yet to sleep in her crib at all... now she is often sleeping in the pack n play or baby rocker by our bed. She has also started feeding only about 6 times a day and usually at about the same times. It has really helped me be able to get out of the house and go to activities without always having my shirt up... or down. ha And start doing The Shred.

Most of our problems have had to do with the boys... at this age they don't exactly tell you that they do not like sharing mommy with a baby, and they don't even understand their frustration. But I could tell when J started crying for mommy every night and staying up crying for an hour or more till someone came to lay with him and all the sudden having separation anxiety at church when he NEVER faced this before. He did not have separation anxiety when we moved to San Antonio or here to Las Vegas, only since he has had a baby sister. J is doing better as he gets used to having sissy around and sharing mommy, but it has just been gradual. And we have put J in some soccer classes which we all go and watch, and he feels like he is getting to shine. He can dribble the ball all the way across the field! 

And D, oh my 4 year olds - I never thought he would try us so much... he was stubborn at 2 and so sweet at 3, but 4... He has learned how to talk back and to get his brother to do the 'dirty work' anytime he can to not get the punishment himself. We have been exasperated with him and he with us, but we have begun to make a dedicated effort to teaching him about respect and obeying right away with a happy heart and he has really does well with boundaries that are enforced. We have been re-reading "Don't Make Me Count to Three." We left Fort Worth right in the middle of reading this book and it was a perfect time to pick it back up. We have had to force ourselves to have more energy and not let our discipling slide now with having a newborn around. With this D has started karate, which he loves. I never thought of karate as an activity for my kids, I don't know what I did plan for them... I really don't understand boys! D loves it and mostly because he wants to learn to spar with other kids. Oh my- I guess at least it is controlled well. 

Co-Sleeping

I, well actually 'we,' have been co-sleeping with our baby girl since she was born. It wasn't intentional at first, we were just trying to get any sleep we could with each of our 3 kids waking up at different times throughout the night. And I really didn't co-sleep much with my boys much for lots of reasons (1) they were noisy sleepers, (2) daddy was worried of rolling over on them, (3) one of them would never stop nursing in bed ... ever, (4) I didn't insist on it. But, this sweet little girl is my last baby and she is such a doll! And she sleeps great next to me- 6 hours last night -at 5 weeks! Not sure I want to move her to a bed because I am just starting to get enough sleep to feel human again. And daddy has also encouraged co-sleeping this time around, as he also knows this will be our last baby. We are trying to soak up all this time with her because it seems like the more kids you have, the faster time goes by.

I know that co-sleeping is controversial and not recommended by many, but I am happy with our choice for now even if it may be difficult to move her into her own room later.

Naptime

Naptime has been sacred around my house since I put my firstborn on a schedule around 3 months old. We have lived our life around said schedule. This may be crazy to some but it is what has kept our family sane- well at least me! Our designated naptime is approximately 1-3 pm and this means we are home at this time EVERYDAY (weekends included). We have rarely made exceptions. Our firstborn is so much more well behaved when he is on a schedule and when he has his nap. Then when I got pregnant with our second child, I really need that nap. And the same when I got pregnant a third time.

Our second, J, has begun to realize he is now the middle child and getting less of my undivided attention than ever before. He screams when I leave him at school, naptime, bedtime ...oh and now at pick up time too! Now tell me, why in the world he would fake-cry at pick up time? If daddy puts him down at nap time, J slept almost 3 hours but then 1 hour for me! Oh and then I catch me eldest son, D, downstairs eating chips! And this entire time the baby has been sleeping for 5 min then fussing until I help her get back to sleep.

I guess it's about time that I give up my nap! And I think I can do it if baby T will only wake up once a night jan stead of twice. She is slowly beginning to sleep a 5 hour stretch (some nights). She went in for her 1 month appointment last Friday and already weighed 10 pounds!

Speaking of doctor's appointments, I feel like we are constantly going -- today it was for our dog Lily. She is healthy, just past due for her annual shots. And I got het some medicine for her 'crazies.' Yes, our dog is crazy! She is a very sweet border collie, but is very obsessive since she hurt her leg in 2010, coincidentally around the same time our first child was born. Lily was not allowed to run at all for about 6 months and began to obsessively lick and destroy anywhere she saw light flickering. I know that she needs more exercise, but even after a long walk or run she will lick/ destroy an area where the light flickers. She was also bit in 2008 by another dog and gets scared and aggressive around other dogs. It scares me to take Lily on a walk with all my kids because she growls at other dogs and may instigate a dog to attack. So, all this to say she is not exercised like she should be. Maybe this should motivate me to get up early and run her... But so far sleep is still winning. 

And thinking about exercise, that is really a goal of mine. I would like to lose 10 pounds to be back at my pre-pregnancy weight but I have a hard time losing it while breastfeeding. Maybe because it's hard to run until after a feeding, maybe my body just wants to hold onto it for reserves, or maybe I am just hungry. But whatever the reason I really would like to, but I will be ok if it takes awhile as long as I can find a time to exercise. Any suggestions when to exercise with 3 kids around? And my other problem is that my abdominals split during my pregnancy and I'm not sure how to be careful with them - so I've been trying to research that.

Recent Recipes

Dairy-free Chocolate Chocolate- Chip Banana Bread 

3 ripe bananas mashed
1/3 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan. 

Mix bananas, oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla.

Mix dry ingredient separately. Flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder. 

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet and mix. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Bake for 45min.



Quick Smoothie

1 cup Frozen fruit - tropical blend (strawberry, mango, papaya, pineapple)
1 cup Spinach
1/3 cup Coconut almond milk blend
2/3 cup coconut yogurt (any flavor)
2 tsp chia seeds

Blend well