Eventful week!

So I've heard that it's hard to keep taking pictures and document things by the time number three comes along.  There are always a ton of pictures of the first born, less of the second, and hardly any of number three.  It must just be a busy time of year or something, because this has not been the case for us.  I have found myself taking more pictures than ever.   This past week alone we had three "events" that required lots pictures.

First off...Esmé turned a month old. It's crazy how big she is now...actually it's down right depressing. She's not only chunking up at the speed of light, she's also acting so much "older".  We've established awake/sleep times, she's very smiley in the mornings and late afternoons, she's sleeping 6.5-7 hr. stretches, and ceiling fans are her best friends.

I get asked all the time who she looks like, which I can't usually answer since she seems to be a pretty even mix, but she most definitely looks like one of the siblings.  I love comparing baby pictures. This is all of them at a month old.

 Newborn phase is so fleeting. I fully know there's so much to look forward to as she gets older, but it hurts to see her change so quickly.  What a difference just a month makes.

Getting her smiles on camera is hard, but gosh are they sweet! This pictures shows off her little sun burnt cheeks from being at the zoo.

Speaking of the zoo...

We somewhat last minute decided to take a trip to the St. Louis zoo last Friday.  I noticed the weather was going to be perfect so David took a day off work.  There aren't very many things that are more fun and precious than taking your kids to the zoo for the first time.  Technically it wasn't Gemma's first time. We took her when she was a year old, and while she loved it at the time, she doesn't remember the trip.  Just like most major outings with kids, you just never know how the day is going to play out, especially when it's the first "major" outing with three kids.  We packed lots of snacks, drinks, movies for the drive, and headed out Friday morning.  Besides the fact that Esmé spit up down my shirt, the day could not have gone much smoother.  We were there over 6 hrs and both kids held up the entire day.  Makael has a special place in his heart for Elephants so we had to see them twice :)  He was somewhat underwhelmed by the zoo until we saw the elephants...

Gemma was excited to see every animal I think, but if you ask her, she'll tell you her favorite part was seeing the chimpanzee pee...Ha! 

Esmé got carried around in the bjourn all day.  She just went with the flow.  I thought I had her pretty covered up, but her face got pretty sun burnt. I felt horrible!! I took lots of pictures, but I've learned from my recent posts, loading lots of pictures on here takes forever so I'm posting a FB link again.

 https://www.facebook.com/audrey.y.boyd/media_set?set=a.797988200224979.1073741826.100000414194522&type=3

Here's one of all of us...I believe this is our first family of 5 photo. 

And finally...Father's day.  

We didn't do anything extravagant at all.  Had lunch with my side of the family and then spent the evening at home.  But it was a sweet day none the less.  Not only did I grow up with one of the greater dads out there, I now get to raise my own kids along side their wonderful loving dad. 

Life is back to "normal"

So I'm wanting to change the blog. I'm still not sure if I'll just try and change the "look", or I'll start a whole new blog all together.  It just seems like a good time to do it. I guess it will depend on how much time and effort I can put into it.  Just warning you, this current post is going to be another picture packed one :)

Life with three is officially underway. The adrenaline of having a newborn in the house is gone, there's no longer a steady stream of visitors, I'm back to cooking dinner, and Gemma and Makael are realizing this little creature stealing mom's attention is here for good. Thankfully, I can still honestly say things are going smoothly (aside from a couple of overwhelming days). Since bringing Esmé home, three of us have had a stomach bug, Makael has had a couple of pretty serious head injuries, Gemma has swallowed a penny, and I've had a trip to urgent care for conjunctivitis, but I would still say the transition from 2 to 3 has been much easier than 1-2 (thus far). I give all the credit to Esmé for being such an incredible newborn.  From the get go she has been a very mellow, laid back baby, a good eater, and a good sleeper.  She's been consistently sleeping five hr stretches, and last night went seven hours! I'm considering the seven hour stretch to be a fluke and not a common occurance just yet (I mean, she's only 3 weeks old!), but I'll take it.  Life is good when mommy sleeps.

I hate how much she has changed in just three weeks. Why must it happen so fast? At her two week check-up she was only 6.2 lbs, yet she looks so big to me now.  Her head is bigger, her arms and legs are significantly chubbier (no question she's going to be a little rolly polly), and she looks "older" now that she's so alert. I'm not too sad though, considering she only gets cuter by the day.  Plus she just started smiling today!!

Gemma and Makael have really bonded since Esmé arrived.  Sure they fight and bicker like siblings do, but they seem to have become best friends over night. The way they play and look out for one another is quite special to watch. It's like they have this "understanding" that mom now has someone else she loves just as much and "we have to stick together".  They're both really taking to her though.  Gemma loves holding her and trying to make her smile, and Makael likes getting into her bed, bouncy seat, and rock and play hahaha. He does love her though...just in his own little way.

Now for the pictures....

This is what they like doing while I'm feeding her in the mornings.  

This was at her 2 week check-up. 

We took a trip out to Strawberry Hill to buy some flowers.  Both kids were much more patient than me in the heat. 

I love this age she's in.  It's so fun to do things like this with her.  

This is what Esmé did while we planted flowers...Makael was inside doing the same thing.  Gemma didn't want her to be alone, so she brought out the hippo. 

Looking so grown up...and beautiful.

G wanted to show G her new puzzle. 

 Love her spiky hair. 

She kept giving him kisses...whenever she stopped he would say, "Gemma I need more kisses".

Such a typical way to sleep for her.

Sweet sisters.

He has a thing for helmets right now...even girly Hello Kitty ones. 

This is how you know M loves E...he's willing to share his Buzz with her. I had propped her up, went to grab her blanket, and came back to Buzz sitting next to her. 

Look who got an Elsa dress! 

I think she likes it. 

I'm sure that bouncy seat will snap one of these days. 

If she fussed at me more, I might notice sooner when this happens.  Her head needs to get just a tad bigger for all of her hair bows to fit properly. 

I love getting pictures of her yawning...it's just too cute!

First smiles!!!!

Never liked pacifiers when he was a baby...he's suddenly fascinated.