Summer is almost over!

I can't believe I let a whole month go by since my last entry.  I can't do that when there's a baby around...there are too many little milestones to document!

Our days feel a little strange right now.  Gemma doesn't start preschool for another week and a half, but all of her friends/cousins are already in school, and the pool isn't open until 5:00.  I think Gemma and I are both ready for school and dance to start back up so she can see her friends regularly and we can get our fall schedule underway.  She's so excited about school this year...which makes me so happy! She's such a big kid now, and it's a little surreal for me sometimes.  She's not a baby, not a toddler...a BIG KID. I know I've said it before, but this parenting stuff gets harder and harder as they grow up.  I get a little (okay a lot) annoyed at all the emphasis put on breastfeeding vs. formula feeding, cloth diapers vs, disposable diapers, sleep training...the list just goes on and on and on. Let's face it, there's no way to do things perfectly, and in the broader scope, those things really don't matter all that much. Once they get to a certain age, parenting becomes more about developing their character, teaching them right from wrong, and helping them learn how to process their emotions. Truth be told it's flat out terrifying.  I wish I could go back to the days when my job was to help her transition from a bottle to a sippy cup. Even potty training is a lot less scary! There's no way around it, she's growing up, and growing up fast!

 Makael isn't taking his time growing up either.  In just a few short weeks he will be 3 and officially be in his last year of "toddlerhood". I have a lot of feelings about this, but I'll save those for a post closer to his actual birthday. They say there's a special bond between boys and their mommies.  I totally believe it. I was secretly relieved when we found out Esmé was a girl, I wasn't ready for Makael to lose his role as "my little boy".  He is such a fun kid and in such a great phase.
He recently got introduced to the show Wild Kratts which has only intensified his love of animals. Elephants still remain the favorite, but he has a special appreciation for kangaroos, whales, squids, and even worms now. Pretty sure his 3rd birthday will for sure be involving animals ;)
Our biggest issue with him remains getting him to eat. Our last visit with the specialist and dietitian was a little disappointing. We didn't see any progress between the visits and had to pay $400 for a complete panel of blood work, which came back normal besides letting us know he's anemic (and we already knew that).  I'm very thankful everything came back normal, but I'm frustrated we still don't have any answers. I've decided not to go back to the specialist for a while and see if I can try and get him to eat with my own methods...and by methods I mean guesses.  Thankfully I've been a little successful. He's still not eating healthy foods but I've actually been able to get him to eat cookies, cheerios, and even potato chips on a more regular basis.  I know that sounds crazy and incredibly unhealthy, but I'm not exaggerating when I say he will NOT eat solids. This is actually a huge step for him! He'll be getting weighed at his 3 year check up in a few weeks, and I'll also be discussing all of this with his regular pediatrician, We'll see where he's at and go from there.

Another little someone will be going in for a check-up...her 4 month check up! I'm glad that's still a few weeks away. Esmé is seriously THE BEST baby.  If you are planning on having a baby soon (or sometime in the future), you should seriously pray you get one just like her.  She's so easy! It's almost unfair. She can "play" on the floor for a good hour, has set herself up with the perfect nap schedule, somehow learned how to put herself to sleep without any sleep training, and sleeps 12+ hours every night. God love her! Now that she's been with us for three months, she's aquired a few nicknames, Ezzi, Ezzi Wezzi (thanks Gemma), Mae Mae, and the most popular...Chubbers. She's just a little ball of squeezable rolls! I can't wait to see how big she's gotten.  In the last month she has learned how to roll, sit in the bumbo,  and giggle (oh my gosh the cuteness!!). Sadly, she woke up this morning with her first fever. The rest of us have been sick the last couple of days so I figured it was just a matter of time, but I still hoped it would bypass her. She wasn't so lucky, but has still been her perfectly pleasant self, just asked for a few extra cuddles today.

Some pictures of nothing in particular...

"Helping" her buckle in :)

She's mastered the fake smile. 

Reading a book on "diggers" which he liked for about 30 seconds before he went to look for his animal book.  

Her chores around the house include "dusting" the baseboards. 

We got a swing set for the backyard.  It's been a huge hit. 

Something else to climb.

A good nap spot.

Happy girl

I love her eyes, her nose, her chin, her...

This is how she puts herself to sleep in 30 seconds flat...fingers in the mouth, and massages her neck with the other hand. 

Play date

Believe it or not Gemma had never had a real hair cut. She really didn't have much hair until she was about three anyway, and after than, a simple trimming by me was enough.  She finally got one! She randomly invited my friend Leah over for a "play date" and came up with a pretty detailed schedule all on her own.  On her agenda...a hair cut, buy a hula hoop, play on the jumpy toys, and get a milk shake. We didn't quite make it to the jumpy toys, but we covered everything else. She's pretty proud of her new look.  

All first hair cuts should be this exciting. 

She's so precious!

She likes it!

We had to get a picture with her play date friend Leah :)

We got the milk shake on the way home.

The next morning...still excited about it. 

My littles this summer.

This summer is flying by. It has been a busy one, but a very fun one.  We've spent most of our free time at the pool which has been a completely different experience than last summer.  Last year Gemma was still doing pretty basic stuff, and it was a big deal if she put her whole head under water.  This year...forget it! She doesn't even like being in the kiddy-pool. It's all about the big pool now. She spends her time jumping off the side, grabbing toys off the floor of the pool, coming up with new "tricks" (spins and dance poses), pretending to be a shark, and practicing her floating. Thankfully even Makael is a fan of the pool! I wanted him to like it this summer so badly!  Last year he mainly spent his time throwing toys into the pool and doing everything in his power to not get wet. This year, by our third visit, he was jumping off the side into my arms. Unfortunately, he liked doing that so much that he decided to jump in while I was packing up our things and went under water (he could reach but it was too deep for him to get his balance to stand up).  It was somewhat traumatic for him so he hasn't done that since and generally stays clear of the "deep" end, but he has thankfully learned to enjoy the water and doesn't mind getting wet...especially when there's a squirt gun in hand :)

Water in his eyes. 

Gemma and her buddies.

She can jump off the side over and over and over...

This is a common occurance after the pool.

So the differences between Gemma and Makael are becoming more and more obvious.  They play great together, but their interests are totally different.  It's so fun to watch them find new things they like to do.  Gemma is the creative one in the family. She can sit and draw, color, paint, or do "crafty" projects (cut/glue/tape) for hours at a time...literally.  She's quite good at it too. She gets her talent from her Lita for sure, definitely not from her parents.

Dad is a trooper.

Mom's best efforts at face painting.

Makael likes painting too...for about 5 minutes.

This picture makes me melt. 

 Makael is more into climbing. He's a little monkey that kid.  We are constantly surprised by the things he can do. The bunk bed is his own personal jungle-gym and he has absolutely no use for the ladder (the proper way to get up to the top). We are just waiting for our first trip to the ER with a broken bone.  He's also a little actor. He will act out entire scenes from his favorite movies, and I kid you not, the majority of his vocabulary consists of movie quotes. He has favorite lines from Sandlot, Nemo, Frozen, Tad the Explorer, Daniel Tiger, Bo on the Go...and more I can't think of at the moment.  The kid is a riot! There has recently been signs that the "terrible 3s" are approaching, but truthfully, I just love being around him. He's so pleasant and funny.

Climbs everything!

Everything!

 We obviously still have to wait a while to know what Esmé will be like, but for now she's busy growing...which she's very good at! So far she has done everything (smile, coo, sleep through the night,) before her older siblings, and continues to be a happy and mellow baby. She's just the cutest little ball of chubby rolls.  Her favorite spot is her changing table, and for some reason, especially likes the ceiling fan in her room. Not sure what makes it more special than the other ceiling fans in the house but she delivers the most smiles to that one.  She seems to be the most sensitive one of the three...at least when it comes to shots.  It took me a good ten minutes to calm her down after her shots at her 2 month check up this morning, and she's been quite upset with me ever since. Poor thing! The rest of her appointment went well though. She weighs 9 lbs 9 oz, and is 21 inches long, which is in the 10th percentile for both (and I keep thinking she's huge).  Happy and healthy :)

Precious!

How she spends her time at the pool. 

Happy girl... changing table and ceiling fan.  Life is good!

At her 2 month check up. 

Looks like she's getting a dimple just on one cheek. Just like Gemma :)

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.