M&W this week

The broom and mop are quite the novelty around here.  They each want to play with them when I get them out of the closet.  I need them to start learning how to properly use them instead of just pushing the crumbs around the kitchen.

 Anything his sister has he insists he needs also.  Big W thinks he nneeeedddssss everything.  He goes all day saying "I nneeeedddd, I nneeeeddddd".

Miss M and Andrew built this lovely snowman.  I catch him out of the corner of my eye when I am in the kitchen and it freaks me out each time.  She goes and talks to him every day before we get in the car to go to school.

 Ballet continues to be a success.  She's still looking for the stage.

Kit Kat

I bought some infant oatmeal at the store in preparation of starting Kit Kat on solids.  I am not looking forward to solids. It's such a mess and just another thing to do every day. It will be better when she can feed herself and eat the coveted quesadilla.  

Until then I will make oatmeal and buy Gerber purees.  Yum. 

It's safe to say that I might get out of feeding her bc Miss M and Big Willie fight over who gets to literally shove a spoon full of food in her face.  They were more successful at getting food into her mouth bc they have no fear of shoving the spoon down her throat.  

Miss M's turn.

 Big W's turn. He was actually quite good at it.

 But she needed a bath after it was over. Partially due to having oatmeal everywhere and partially bc I wasn't sure when the last time she was bathed.  She's good in the bath.  She enjoys it more than the other two.

 Day 2 of oatmeal provided more interest in a pacifier.

She's such a drooler.  I need to do a better job (as in make any kind of effort) in putting a bib on her.  

She's caught Big W's cold and can't really breathe.  Is it summer yet?

The children.

Look at the naughtiness written all over that little boy's face. He gets sat in time out a lot. He just laughs about it.  I had Miss Cate (whom I will now affectionately refer to as Kit-Kat b/c that's what I call her) lying on the floor in her room last night b/c it's not safe to leave her on a bed b/c she rolls and squirms. I walked in from just running to another room and found will flat on top of her.  He was trying to hug her (I hope/think) but he could have hugged the life out of her. He's a large fella.  I ripped him off of her and he immediately sat his rump on her head. She cried so hard. 

I seriously don't know how to convey to him that he is hurting people. I was so upset last night after he sat on her head that I put him (maybe not so gently) in his crib and if his father hadn't come home to rescue him he might have stayed there all night.  

Her eyebrows are so intense.

 But she's so mild and go with the flow compared to the other two.

 She hates this hat. It always slides down in her eyes but I think it's so cute.

She rolls over almost immediately when I lay her down on the ground.  When she pushes herself up she inverts her wrists and loos like a seal. I don't know why she does it or if it's concerning. I will ask the doctor when we go next month for Big Willie's appointment. He has a 21 month appointment for some reason.

Miss M.  She's loving wearing dresses these days even if it means wearing a summer dress in the dead of winter.

She's going to ballet class on Thursday evenings. She loves it.  She just wants to dance on the stage. She wants to know where this said stage is every single day.  We often build a stage at the house so she can dance or sing or do whatever she does.

The boys came over last week and stayed all day. It's always so fun to have them come over. The kids all get along so well and even better when Big Willie sleeps for most of the afternoon.

I am participating in something called the Whole Life Challenge. The local running group comprised of women are all doing it so why not join the masses.  There are a number of things you have to complete each day to get points but the biggest/most difficult one is not drinking soda.  One point is lost for each non-compliant food/drink consumed.  There are only a total of 5 foods points each day.  This is a photo representing my average weekly soda consumption during a normal week compared to week 1 on the WLC.  I assumed giving up soda would be impossible.  Its not so bad.  It's only on long days or long nights when I want one most.  I find when I drink one it's not as satisfying as I dreamed.  It still doesn't stop me from wanting one.

I saw this sign on a Lululemon building in the city last weekend when I was wondering around.  I think it's pretty true to life.  It says "All you have is now" # Givepresence.  I try.  It's hard. I should try harder.

Miss M

She's become such a goofball. She loves to make up words, phrases, games and anything else her little brain can imagine.  She still has two sisters. E-livia and O-livia. 

 She likes for me to be the subject of her photography.

She likes to help in the kitchen. We are on a kick to eat lots of fruits and veggies and with veggies comes preparation. Miss M got nylon kids knives to help me cut up the food and get it ready for the fridge.  She thinks she's pretty cool b/c it's not a butter knife. I don't know why exactly she's wearing bunny ears.

Just like I am not exactly sure why she insisted on wearing her Kangaroo costume from Halloween.  I had to dig it out of the depths of her closet this weekend b/c she wouldn't let the subject die no matter how hard I tried to ignore her. She went with Andrew to drop off his car to get repaired and rode her scooter home. In her Kangaroo outfit. 

She also insisted on putting the lawn chair in the yard and sitting there. She just swung her legs back and forth for awhile. I think she misses the outdoors. I miss the outdoors. She really just wants to play in the snow too but Big Willie and Cate and I don't want to.  We don't really approve of the cold weather. I should probably suck it up and go outside with her one day.  Or pay the babysitter to do it. 

As we get closer to four years old I am finding her to be a bit more challenging. Maybe it's just being tired with two kids who don't sleep through the night. Maybe it's just the compounding of Big Willie being difficult. Maybe it's just coming down from a post-holiday high.  Whatever it is needs to stop. She has become quite defiant and wants to argue everything and not do anything I ask/tell her to do.  All I want is some cooperation. I am not asking for much. I am too tired to ask for much.  On that note. I am going to bed before the first kid wakes up. 

Big Willie

Big Willie physically, mentally and emotionally exhausts me. The kid is so strong willed. He's so loud.

He's so much of everything he does.

When he's a lover, man, he's a lover. When he's a frustrating 20 month old, man, is he frustrating.

I spend most of my days screaming/yelling at him to stop doing something.  I say things like "keep your hands to yourself", "don't pull her hair", "stop hitting her with that", "don't kick people", "get down from there", "no you can't make her a bottle - formula is expensive for you to waste", "keep the water in the sink", "put her pacifier in her mouth and leave it there", "no, you can't pick her up like that", "give Maddie back her blanket - it's not yours - go find your own".

I love when he goes down for a nap. The world seems calm again.

He wants nothing more than to be with Miss M and do what she does and yet drive her insane.

I think last weekend Andrew had had enough of Big Willie and his tower so he put it away. The tower assisted the kids in seeing what we were doing on the counters. It became a means to climb onto the counters and crawl all over them. He's fallen off the counter before and in the end he's just pissed he's not still on the counter. He's not hurt or upset that he fell rather he's upset he's still not on the counter tops.  He got resourceful. He moved the chairs from the table to the counter and crawled up to play with Miss Cate's formula and bottles.  

Tonight I was putting Miss Cate down for bed when things got really quiet. I was almost finished feeding her so I didn't want to drop everything.  I came downstairs after getting him to bed to find formula spilled all over the floor.  It's just gritty and gross to step on and I am tired of cleaning up messes.  

And while Big Willie was destroying my kitchen one bottle of formula at a time Miss M was asleep in her bed. She tried so hard to wait for me as I told her she could sleep with me tonight but she just couldn't do it. I am secretly jumping up and down in excitement b/c I have been laying in bed under the covers since 8pm! It's really the simple things in life. I predict she ends up in my bed before the nights over. 

Big Willie likes to do crafts with Miss M. 

He wants to feed Miss Cate all the time. You can see how well that usually goes. 

He likes to shove her pacifier in her mouth then take it back. He also gets distracted easily and forgets he's supposed to give it to her. Look at how she looks so longingly at it. She knows what it is.

I asked him to sit in his chair next to Miss M's chair.  He insisted on sitting in her chair with her. Yep. She's in that chair too.

 There. Now isn't that much better.  He still insisted on being in her chair with her. We went all crazy around here and got Netflix (thanks to the encouragement of some Christmas gifts!!!). The kids LOVE Netflix. It rolls from one show right into the other.  I don't think Miss M has found anything greater in her life.  They fight over what to watch now but we can agree on Winny the Pooh. It's from 1977 and the kids love it.  It's also 74 minutes long so I love it even more.

 Look how peaceful and sweet he looks when he sleeps.

We bought a new coffee machine that makes espressos/lattes. It's basically delicious rich heaven being poured into a mug.

He's a sweet kid but I still took the time to re-tape a T.O. square. He's been in it a few times each day. It's probably a little early to start putting him in time out but I have no idea how to get him to stop hitting and pulling hair and sitting on people's head and tackling the innocent.

He's saying so many more words these days. They aren't really words that always help you know what he wants in life but it's good to hear him talking more every day.  I don't even know what to tell you is new with him b/c I am so brain dead at the end of each day.  I will try to pay more attention to his new tricks and not be so distracted by his physical demeanor. 

Catching up pt 1

Miss Cate is now big enough (sort of) to sit in her jumper.  She likes it for awhile. I imagine when her legs finally touch the ground she may like it more.  I am not sure the feeling of being suspended in the air would be the most wonderful especially when you're being bounced/swayed/jerked in every direction by Big Willie.  

I was able to go out for a night (a whole night - hotel and all) with my friends. It was such fun. We have another night planned for March to celebrate birthdays and friends moving. My heart is hurting upon the news of a friend moving to California.

 Big Willie loves his daddy. Miss Cate just loves when someone pays attention to her.

Miss M still loves to take pictures with my phone. She captured this magnificent picture of Miss Cate just laying on the bathroom floor. I left her there to try and get will to bed fast. She didn't fuss so I didn't move her until his door was shut.

Reading to the boy to get him ready for bed. He loves to read with anyone. 

Miss M even took a lovely picture of her room. Her room is a perpetual disaster. The only time it's clean is after Carmen comes. The kids play in her room and not the other rooms as much and they manage to pull every book from the shelf and dump every puzzle piece.  It drives me insane. 

 She's so sweet. She smiles anytime anyone looks at her.

Big Willie is becoming more independent in his playing and he's starting to get into the trains. He insists on sitting on the train table and he prefers the trains that make noise. He is confused as to why some trains have a button and talk and others do not.  He requests (screams/demands) to watch Choo-Choo's on the television or the phone. He's a very demanding fella.  And very loud when he wants something. He's also rather persistent.  He's exhausting.

Once upon a time

Once upon a time I was a regular blogger. Once upon a time I didn't have three kids who kept me on my toes all day long. Once upon a time I think I actually sat down.  

Miss M's school did a week on books. They brought in their favorite book one day. Miss M picked a Frozen book she got from Christmas as her favorite book. They made library cards one day. Another day they wrote a book about their family.

This is Miss M's book:

That pretty much sums up every day around here.  She didn't throw in that once upon a time I did laundry. I wonder if it's b/c I don't do it every day or if it's because all her clothes magically get clean and folded and put in her drawers while she's sleeping.  I look forward to the day when she can do her own laundry. Is four to young to start making them do their own laundry?

Life

We are still getting back into the routine of life post-holiday season.  

I successfully did all my laundry with Miss Cate strapped to me sleeping and the other two running around like crazy people.

Do you see the blue can on the shelf? They are a can of pringles.  He was going to climb the shelves to get those chips.  The kids are always in the pantry. It makes me batty.

We moved him to the toddler chair and put his high chair in the dining room.  I think he still needs to be in a high chair but he disagrees.  He falls off of it but it's because he won't sit down on his bottom. I keep thinking he'll learn.  He keeps falling.

He likes to be in Miss Cate's crib with her.

We went to a friend's house yesterday.  She has two cats.  Miss M kept sneezing and asking to go back to Miss Jill's house (which was just downstairs).  I didn't think anything of it but told her she had to stop being rude.  Then quickly her sneezing went to itchy/watery eyes, hives around her eye and her eye starting to swell up.  I guess we should add Benedryl to our traveling first aid kit.  I gave her Benedryl and she recovered pretty quickly...well after her  hour nap.

Trifecta! Miss Cate slept while Miss M and Big Will slept! I ended up napping too. It was glorious.

He loves to kick his feet up at the table.

Her eye was fine after she woke up.

Miss M started taking pictures.  There's Miss Cate waiting to be put to bed.  I can't get her to bed before Big Will bc he always comes in and screams or (roughly) pats her head.  There are a lot of times when I just feel bad for her.  She's generally good at waiting her turn.