Double Becomes Triple

With the weather warming up it is once again time for walking session.  YEAH!!!  I have been dying to get outside with these kids.  It is a part of our little routine that I love because they are good and quite and I can hear myself think again.  It is also very relaxing for me and this mommy really needs to relax more (my doctors tell me).

 

Since James has been born I have been trying to figure out how to go on my walks again with three kids and one double stroller.  The only thing that I could think of was to make Seth walk from now on.  I know I won't be able to walk my 5k every day now but hopefully as he gets older we will be able to do it again.

As you can see Seth was very excited that he got to be a big boy and walk next to mommy.

 

However, this is how we came home.  Seth did really good walking for half of our distance that day but ended up finding a way to ride the rest of the way home.  I actually think it works pretty well.

It is kind of crowed in that spot and he liked putting his feet down hard enough to mess with the front wheel but overall he did okay.  Although, now he doesn't really ride this way on our walks anymore and I'm having to try and figure out different solutions for mommy to be able to walk in peace.

Also, this was James very first walk around the neighborhood.  The cute kid slept through it all which was fine by me.

The Way to Sleep

I love nap time with Seth because you never know what you are going to get when you open that door.  Sometimes it is good and other times it is bad.  I try to take pictures of only the good so I remember just how much I love this kid.

 

 When Seth isn't very tired he likes to destroy his room.  This was one of the good days when he didn't take everything out of the dresser.

 

I think he might have too many stuff animals since he can cover his entire bed with them.  That isn't even all of them to be honest.

When he fills his bed with toys sometimes you will find him sleeping in the corner sitting up.  It is funny and cute all at the same time.

On occasion I will find him sleeping in his closet too.

 

We keep his soft toys in there so he will think he isn't tired and start playing but at times, like this one, he doesn't get very far before he crashes.

I think the cutest part though is him sleeping with his hat.

What a Mommy Does

If you ever wonder what your children think you do just watch them for a little bit and you will know.

 

Sarah thinks that I get up and look good and ready for the day.

 

 We then have some fun time working on a project.

 

 We then do chores like laundry.

 

 We prepare meals that are very fancy as you can see.

 

Finally when the day is over you look and feel something like this.  The hidden joys of being a mother some days and the best part is it starts all over again the next day.

Sweet Music

Watching your children learn and grow is such a great treasure.  We have a piano and we want our children to learn how to play it and have fun too.  Seth has already started to play by just pressing the keys and I have been trying to teach him that their are high and low notes.  Some days he gets it and others he needs a reminder but he is still very young and we just do it for fun.  Well Sarah has been wanting to join in and so I let her have some special one on one music time with me.

 

She is quite fascinated with turning the page and looking at the notes before she starts playing the keys.  It is so cute to watch how serious she can be with it too.

I see a very adorable family musician in our future.

A Fresh New Look

Michael and I had this deal a long time ago that if I let him get something that he has wanted then we get to paint the last room, the living room.  Well he ended up getting what he wanted and gave me a few days to pick a color before he would start painting.  AHHH!!!  It is hard to pick a color that you are going to love under that much pressure but I did it.

 

The beginning of the crazy weekend ahead of us.  Sadly, Michael wasn't feeling to well but he still managed to keep going.  Now that is love for you.

While we have lived with the interesting colors that the last home owner picked, until we could paint them over, I think the living room has been the most interesting in discovering what they had done.  As we were paint prepping we discovered that the entire ROOM use to be this dark red.  It is a very bold thing to do.

Then we made the discovery that before the red the house was this funny orange color.  Really I don't know why but I am glad that they listened to a staging person and painted this room over or we might not have bought the place.

Now while we worked hard the kids got to help.  Sarah was the best supervising manager from the center of the room.

Seth enjoyed watching mommy and daddy and wanted to copy us so we let him with the dry wall and a clean roller.  The kid didn't know that he wasn't really doing anything but he was so happy to help.

Onto the next area and the room is already brighter that I am very happy with the color.

 

It took us two days to paint the room and put everything back into place.  If you know us at all you will understand how amazing that is for our family. 

Big Helpers

Some days it is really hard having older kids with a new born because they will fight with one another when I'm feeding the baby or they will want to sit on my lap when I need to change a diaper.  But we do have a few moments were they want to help and it is the sweetest thing in the world.

 

 James was crying and Seth ran to him to help put the binky in his mouth to calm him down.

 

 Sarah will on occasion read him a book.  Never mind that she can't read.

James was getting fussy (yet again) and Sarah wasn't sure why.  I thought she would just walk away but she surprised me by,

giving her toy to James in hopes it would calm him down.

 

Tummy time also helps calm this boy down too. 

 

The last thing that is really helpful is that the kids know how to clean up their toys.  I LOVE THIS!  It helps save me time and energy.  Now it doesn't happen all of the time but I'm thankful that they are at least getting the idea that this is just what we do when we are done playing with something.

Quaky Animals

I know I am going to need to develop some mad photo taking skills when it comes to my kids.  They wiggle so much!  At least every now and again I can get a good picture of them.

 

Here each kid is with their growing animal but these are ones that they get to sleep with. 

Each kid also gets a special bath time ducky to play with too.  If you can't tell what ducky goes with who then just look at the shirt color and duck color and you'll figure it out.

For some reason Seth LOVES to bit his ducks head.  I agree with Sarah in that it is strange.

 

PROF! This is prof that my sons loves the move Pride and Prejudice.  Today he had to have the ducks watch it with him.  He quakes me up sometimes (he he he).

Blessed James

I don't know why I put myself through so much torture when it comes to making my children's blessing cloths.  It is probably because I have a set vision in mind of what they should look like and I can't have anything else.  I knew what I wanted for James but wasn't sure if I could make it but thankfully I was able to tweak another pattern and come up with this handsome outfit.

 

He is such a cute stylish little guy.  I think the cloths fit his personality perfectly.  Now I made the pants, bow tie, and suspenders.  The shirt and shoes were bought at different stores.

 

 A view of the back for the suspenders and the pants.  I love my little pockets that I made him.

 

 Sometimes he can be such a serious kid.  I am really happy with how the bow tie turned out since I had to make it even smaller than the pattern so it would fit him right.

 

 When I was pregnant with James I made this blessing blanket for him too.  I have done that for all of my kids because I think it is just something nice and extra special for them to have.

 

Just a close up of his shoes.  They fit him perfectly.  I love little baby feet.

 

The entire family together after the blessing.

 

I made sure we would all color coordinate so we could get a good family picture.  These two were the best we could get because we had some very tired and hungry kids.

 

A special picture of just mommy and daddy holding our handsome son.

 

 Seth is such a great big brother and loves to hold James.  This is one of those sweet moments I will cherish forever.

 

After the blessing and a large amount of pictures were taken we went home and had a nice lunch spread.