turn the lights on me.

me: hey aidan, did you see this pic?

*i show her this one*


aidan: wait! turn the lights on me!
me: haha what?
aidan: the picture. turn the lights on!


lol she doesn't appreciate black and white photography yet ;)

hold me accountable.

yeah, i started the c25k tonight.

yeah, i am effin tired and already sore.

yeah, i did it.

and

yeah, im posting a "before" pic. in hopes that it motivates me. judge away.

and be nice. i have a 7 week old. LOL



oh, and yeah, looks like i needed a shower before the run, too. ew.

52 pick up.

ahhh how often do people complain about their husbands doing no housework, how hard it is to have kids and do housework, or brag about how little they do or don't do?

often. like, all the time.

so i figured id take this time while EJ went out to the movies with a buddy and the house is asleep to write out how we split duties in our house.

laundry: that is all me. EJ will switch it out if i ask him, but i do it all day. my washer and dryer are running every day. but i just dump the clean clothes i do for the day on the bed and we BOTH put it away quickly before bedtime. thats the worst part anyway, right? i do put away all the girls laundry though. i keep it in a basket in our room til the basket is full - then take it all upstairs one day during naptime, sort it out, and put it away as each kid wakes up. i effin hate little hangars, btw.

dishes: me 80% of the time. i do it in the afternoon while the kids are asleep. but if i dont feel like it (or have too many and feel like ack!!) then EJ will do it that night no problem.

vacuuming and/or steam cleaning: EJ. i will vac only if he isn't home and someone is coming over. EJ is much more... thorough. i run over it all so quickly that it never looks as good. he doesn't mind it though - and usually takes it upon himself to do it. and the only time i steam clean is if someone puked on the ground (oh, like last week) and EJ isn't home.

mopping: i do this during the week when the kids sleep. i used to do it when they were awake, but alas, they kept trying to slip and slide on the wet floor. that ended in accidents and tears quickly. lol

all around cleaning: we do this together on the wkends. we call it 52 pick up. we pick and room during naptime (or even if they are awake), pick a kid to help, and GO. he usually does the kitchen and our bedroom/bathroom (downstairs) and i will do the girls rooms, the gameroom, and the bathroom upstairs. it really takes no time at all when we split it up this way. and we feel 100x cleaner and the house looks great.

outside chores: EJ 100%. i would probably laugh if he asked me to mow, edge, weed, etc - but he wouldn't. he takes pride in his yard lol and knows that would be a (hot and sweaty) "no way" from me.

daily extras: we always try to straighten up aidan's room before bed since after nap is usually an organized disaster. i pick up any toys downstairs a bunch of times a day. he takes the trash down on trash day - as for daily trash, i take it to the garage and he takes it the rest of the way usually.

bathtime/bedtime: EJ does bath with the girls, i help get them out and dried and put into PJs. he gets bottles or drinks while i do PJs and then we both put aidan and sawyer down together. (reese is still in our room so she is n/a).

grocery shopping: me during the week usually. but we 90% of the time do another trip on the wkends. gets us out of the house and we end up getting things that i forgot on my many trips to target or kroger or wherever mon-friday.

cooking: ugh. i hate cooking. and im bad at it. but i, obviously, do breakfast and lunch (except EJ does breakfast on the wkends usually) and dinner for the girls. EJ is the main dinner cooker though for "real meals" lol its hard bc the girls eat earlier than we do - like 5:30pm. so when EJ gets home, they are eating - so he can eat what they are eating or we figure something out later and just hang with them while they eat. EJ usually grills for us on the wkends though - or if we have friends over during the week.

bills: i pay them all except for cell and one card. EJ does the others on his phone when i ask him to.

i, admittedly, have it pretty good. EJ is fabulous around the house. even more so when im pregnant. :) but that being said, i do try to keep everything in order here while he is at work. im a sahm, which, in my opinion, includes housework. im okay with that :) i live a pretty good life with great benefits haha

being a mom aka acting like a fool.

sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children. ~marilyn penland

to bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while. ~josh billings

i dont know where this post is going, but i just really like these quotes. maybe i just want to giggle at the comments i (hopefully) get, telling me how silly you are with your kids and also swoon when you tell me what you think makes a good mom :)

i have a pretty stellar mom. we are best friends :) we laugh, we argue, we think we are the funniest people on earth, and im sure, at times, we think we are the opposite. lol

i'm lucky. i strive to have the same relationship with my girls as we get older.

besides the main things like, oh, love, security, and the rest of the obviously important things moms give their kids - i also give a few things that they don't necessarily wish for:

1. my glorious singing voice. oh yes. from day one, i have sang to my kids. actually, in utero, poor aidan had to endure me shaking my ass to "sexy back" while 9 months pregnant. and singing at the top of my lungs in the car.
2. my dance moves. mmhmmm i am certain if you saw me you'd say something along the lines of "wow! you should be on SYTYCD!!" or, maybe not. you might ask me if i was having a seizure. but either way - my kids laugh out loud. we turn on music all the time at home and just dance. its fun, a good workout (lol), and wears them out for bedtime as well. WIN!
3. my choice in clothes all day. lol this one is actually okay by all of us since, if we're not going out, then PJs it is. and plus, as we all know, aidan sometimes dresses like this after nap (so who is she to judge):


4. tickles. oh man. why is it that when you were a kid, you HATED being tickled, but still, as an adult - you do it to your own kids. they laugh so dang hard and its so funny to watch them. im sure they'll hate it as they get older - and im sure i wont care. :)
5. watching EJ and i hug and kiss. its so funny. they love if we hug each other or give each other a kiss. they want to join in on the group hug and kisses/germs get passed around. lol but im glad that they see this. i think its important for kids to *see* love :) they may think its gross in a few years for EJ to even kiss me on the cheek. but too bad!

anyway, i may add to this post later when i think of more things, but i think its those silly moments that make a mom.

simply having children does not make mothers. ~john a. shedd

having children hardly makes a mom a mom :) im lucky to have such a great example and hopefully my kids say the same things about me.

sick. then better.

aidan puked last night. at about 1:15am. i heard her sort of cry (i was awake bc i just fed reese) and then she burst into tears. i went to her room, she told me "i pukied, momma" and i got EJ. i laughed walking down the stairs thinking, "really? more puke?" he stripped the bed and re-made it while i gave her a bath, gave her meds, and we got her back in bed.

i could see her eyes glass over asking about 1 of her scooze-dogs having to be in the wash.

this morning she had a fever, i gave her more tylenol and she laid around. she nearly lost it when we had to put scooze into the dryer. but she liked when he was all clean. :) she likes to smell fresh laundry (well, she likes to smell anything good really lol) so she was happy.

after nap, i went up to get her.

me: hey did you pukey?
aidan: no. no pukey.
(i check her head)
me: yay no fever!
aidan: yeah. i not sick anymore!
me: wow, im so happy.
aidan: hug!
(hugs all around)
aidan: look at my belly!
(i lift up her shirt)
aidan: my belly is SO happy :) i all better.

of course, she's not ALL better. but i am glad that she hasnt yacked since this early morning.

father's day comparison.

in one year we have gone from this:




to this:




dear EJ,

thank you. thank you for being the best dad to these girls that i could possibly imagine. thank you for helping me every day when i need it. for coming home as soon as you possibly can from work to see them. for doing bath time every night so i can take a breather and you can spend some fun time with the girls and then sharing all the bedtime routine duties. thank you for cleaning up puke and poop when i start to gag. and for having no qualms with stepping up when im just in an "over it" mood. thank you for providing for our family so i can be a stay at home mom every day. my dream job for as long as i can remember. thank you for loving all of us girls the way that you do. you are the best.

the store.

::twitch::

ok, here's the thing - i love LOVE going to the grocery store with the girls.

90% of the time.

the other 10%, i think "wow, this facebook group has never been so true!!"

let's start out with GETTING to the store. i have 3 kids in carseats. none of them can FULLY put their straps on.

1. start the car from inside. bc its f'in hot here right now.
2. get stella (the "i may chew things up" JRT) in her cage. which is funny in itself and usually consists of aidan and sawyer chasing her yelling "IN YOUR CAGE, STELLA!!" lol
3. then aidan orders sawyer to "pick up the toys cobalt would eat" and they go in the toy thing that we have downstairs.
4. make sure all have shoes. well, just aidan really. lol sawyer sits in the cart so if i can't find them - eh...
5. get reese in her bucket seat.
6. head to the garage. all of us. i set reese's seat down in the garage. open up the car door for A and S and send A to the "trunk" lol (aka the third row where her seat is) and then lock S in her seat. aidan is capable of clipping her chest clip - so she does that.
7. go get reese, clip her in the base, then reach OVER her seat into the back and clip the rest of aidan's seat.
8. ::breathe:: get into my own seat.
9. put on rockin' music. ;) or "hey soul sister" aka the hey hey song according to the girls by Train. and then get to driving.
10. sing a lot.

ok so. the rest with 3 isn't so bad. as long as ive gone when they are in good moods. aka like 930-10am. ish. and try not to go past an hour. snacks, drinks, stickers, etc are a must. the bucket seat goes into the cart, sawyer sits up top, and aidan walks. and by "walks" i mean "putzes" but whatever. i would wear reese in a wrap, but the problem is that if sawyer then wants me to carry her - then id be in trouble and have no place to put reese etc etc... so anyway, i pile shiz in the cart around the bucket and then underneath. (this is if i go alone. a lot of the time, my mom meets me, we have to 2 carts and its easy breezy - usually lol) or we get the BIG carts - i'll explain that in a min.

anyway, today was one of those "10%" days. ::twitch again:: (EJ was at home with the cable guy. and hey, its father's day. he can have some quiet time, right? lol) we go in. (which requires me to carry sawyer AND the bucket. and aidan holds the bucket or my purse haha. because, i didnt care about the shoe situation when we left. oops)

aidan wants the BIG cart with the seat belts. she told me that in the car. well, its sunday - family shop day - and there are none where we enter. but we go searching for them. we grab a diet coke from the target food place and then head looking - finally find one. i strap sawyer into the seat and aidan hops in too.

reese is now hungry. oh really? now?!?! so she is crying. i pick her up and think "ok, i can hold, feed, and push this cart, right?" perfect.

i had put my diet coke on the cart thing that A and S were sitting on. annnnnnnd SPLASH. my diet coke flings to the ground. as if to mock me. and say "amanda, nice try. but this day is going to continue to be a FAIL." we *happen* to still be at the front of the store and there are paper towels right there. so i try to clean it up as best as i can while holding reese, explain to aidan its not her fault bc she keeps saying "sorry mama", and get going moving.

my mom texts me: hey we're on our way.

YES. SAVED!

sparing you the details of the rest of the time, i'll get to the other good stuff. sawyer no longer wants to sit in the cart and accidentally flings goldfish on the floor, and then she walks around barefoot. and tries to try on clothes while we shop for a new bathing suit for aidan and some summer stuff for reese. reese just wants to be held the entire time (first time ever she's been AWAKE at the store), and aidan walks around with my dad like she usually does until she wants a hot dog. sigh.

i swear to you, this stuff only happens on the wkends. during the week, its smooth sailing. its the other 90%. we have fun. we laugh. we talk about colors, food, animals, etc. i love it. it really makes me happy to have fun with them.

today, i am thanking my lucky stars for naptime :) and thats okay i think. at least im going to tell myself it is.

explaining sick.

on our way to target to meet my mom.

aidan: papa coming?

me: no, sorry babe, he's sick.

aidan: he sick like sawyer?

me: no. he has a cough like this ::fake cough::

aidan: ooooh. [thinks for a min] why?

me: well, because he caught a bug.

aidan: oh!! [confused] in his mouth?

:) i like thinking she thinks my dad ate a bug.

ahhh dreaded discipline.

i don't spank my kids. and i don't do timeouts (by definition). i dont really do much as for disciplining my kids.

that sounds horrible, doesn't it? lol well, its not. at least not to me so far. what i do with my kids (and *plan* to for the next ones) is pretty simple.

sawyer is really too young. she is mainly all about distraction. she, at not yet 2, doesn't understand some things as well as aidan. duh. of course not. that will come in time. so here's what we do for aidan, mainly.

i will set up a disclaimer first that, no, of course it doesn't work all the time. of course she has freaking meltdowns when she is overtired. of course she and sawyer still battle it out sometimes. but overall - this is what works for my 3 year old.

1. repetition. she is a child of routine. i say reminders to her 3 times or so on the way to the store. she fills in the blanks now, though. i remind her that if she doesn't want to sit in the cart, she has to walk by us (well, she can't really sit in the cart anymore bc of the 2 i have in there already). that there is no screaming. none. and that we are going to have a fun/happy time. sometimes i just say "hey, what are the rules?" and she responds with "stay by you, no screaming, and only happy!!" lol she *gets* it in theory, but still, at the store i have to remind her if she starts to wander or get whiny over nothing.

all of this is the same for wherever we go. i remind her if we go to the park that when i say we have to leave.... "we leave, momma!!" to try to preface the "i dont want to go yet!!" battles. it doesn't always work, but she understands.

i did this with "holding the car" as well for when i get the other kids out. aidan, for a long time, has been told to put her hand on the car while i grab sawyer out (thank you parent's magazine for the idea years ago). and it works. now, with another kid, its so important that she remembers - so i make sure to remind her every time (and if i forget - she lets me know she remembered)

2. praise. "aidan you are doing SUCH a good job of walking next to me!" "wow, aidan. you have been such a great helper today!" etc etc. she beams with pride. that alone helps a downward situation or an overtired kid.

3. we go places at the best times of day. i hardly expect my 3 year old and almost 2 year old to be happy if we went to the store or park before naptime or when they are hungry. thats unfair. even i am cranky at those times of day ;) i refuse to punish a kid who is acting their age. i expected too much from them and that is my own fault.

4. distractions. if i start to see a "oh no. they are getting antsy" moment on the horizon, i whip out the distractions... stickers, food, aidan's highlights magazine, games... anything that ive brought with me. at home, i can bring out coloring stuff, paint, whatever... but i *try* to pre-empt it. if i already have a crying child, they are going to basically tell me to stick that crayon where the sun don't shine during a tantrum. and then its too late.

sometimes we sing songs. ok a lot of the time. lol in the car, in the store, wherever. i am basically singing a lot of the day. but they like it. :)

5. freezes/cool down time. this is where my psuedo timeout comes in. lets say aidan hits sawyer. i tell her that "no, we dont hit our sister" first. if she does it again, i take her away from the situation and talk to her quietly and explain to her why we dont do that. its hard bc its HIGHLY likely that sawyer provoked it ;) so i just remind aidan to tell *me* when something happens so i can take care of it.

same goes for this situation: lets say we are all at the mall, or a restaurant, or the park. anywhere in public and either kid has a complete meltdown. i remove them. totally from the place. i will pick them up kicking and screaming and take them to the bathroom, off to the side, somewhere! just the 2 of us. they need some place to cool down. to forget why they had the tantrum to begin with. sometimes aidan and i will just sit in a bathroom and chat for a few mins. i remind her "we don't ______" and then we go back to what we were doing.

i hardly think that making them sit alone for some amount of time does anything. maybe. but it wouldn't for my kids so far. aidan is far too sensitive. she'd sit and cryyyyy and cry as if i just broke her heart. and sawyer (although too young anyway), wouldnt care. she has a face of "justification" when she does things. she the type of kid that says "i'll take my punishment just fine bc you deserved it!!" haha

maybe later a structured timeout would be useful? but for now - its not for us.

like i said before, this is hardly fool proof. but nothing really is when you have preschoolers and toddlers.

when we went to disney aidan had a total meltdown by day 3. total. we had both been sick with the flu or food poisoning (still dont know which) before we left and the first couple days. aidan felt better, but since we were in a hotel, we went to bed late, had no resemblance to a schedule and no naptime or quiet time - it was hard for a kid like her. so, by day 3, we were out about lunch time and playing with a group of women and their kids on a playground, which is by a body of water.

in aidan's head - she wanted to swim. in that body of water. um, lol sorry babe, no. she stripped down on the playground and then later had a near freakout of wanting to go swimming. i put her in comfy pants with i brought because, well, i know her. lol, talked to her off to the side, and then eventually just walked her around one of the stores around the corner.

she was overtired, hot, over it. but what can you do? she came back from the cool AC'd store much better. she had time to chill out.

that may not work with all kids, but it did with her. i told her we could go swimming at the hotel pool later (instead of this, uh, lake thingy) and she was okay with that (and certainly did NOT let me forget it haha).

i think you have to do what you have to do with your kids, but figuring out the *why* before acting on the action is the best approach for us. and i think people forget that their are motives - even behind a tantrum. and that finding out those motives and then seeing the signs before the tantrum happens - will make things a lot easier in the end.

lets go to bed early tonight.

EJ and i wanted to go to bed early last night. sounds like heaven, right? i had gone out with some girlfriends for drinks on saturday night, so i needed sleep. EJ cleaned/organized the kitchen yesterday (it looks awesome) and I tackled the gameroom/their bedrooms. so we were just worn out from the whole day.

at about 7:30pm, i found myself sitting in a pile of puke. on the couch. sawyer walked over to where i was feeding reese, looked at me, and the next thing i knew - im covered in everything she ate yesterday. ew. and let me say, there is no more paralyzing thing than getting puked on. you sit there thinking, "what do i do? i have to get up. should move her. my clothes are covered. omg the smell...." til you finally get up. or, rather, when i called for EJ to help me ;)

she then puked on the rug annnnnnd then again in the kitchen. this was then bath 2 for sawyer.

thank dog we have a steam cleaner. lordy.

we let her relax down stairs for a while. she is dead tired so we put her into bed. all is quiet. i check on her later, no smells, nothing from her room. she sort of wakes up, starts to cry, so i go to get her for a few mins and omg - the smell. she had puked in her bed. EJ brings the bed stuff down, i strip sawyer down. and now its bath 3.

aidan had noticed the commotion. and being the little nurse that she is, she wanted to come down and help. its about 11pm at this point. sigh. she is a sweetie and tells sawyer she loves her (even this morning, she just goes up to sawyer and rubs her head, says "i love you sawyer" and sings her songs) anyway,i now had 3 children in my room. so much for going to bed early?

sawyer continues to puke in our bed on towels. at this point its only bile. but i feel so bad bc its so crappy to throw up. just hurts.

finally - i tell aidan its time for bed and off EJ goes upstairs with her while i lay with sawyer. aidan was totally fine til he shut the door and got down the stairs. then she was livid. i hear the ruckus upstairs and grab her video monitor. she is stomping around grumbling and then... she takes her "jelly fishing net" (thanks spongebob. its just a fish tank net in real life though) and turns her light on. ugh. that wont be in her room anymore.

then i dont see her for about 30 seconds. she walks from the direction of the closet into the view of the camera. she now has on her easter dress. and panties, i assumed, bc i had seen her throw her nighttime diaper in the trash.

in full amanda form, i grab my camera and head upstairs. my deal with her - "put on a diaper and lay down and you can wear your easter dress to bed." perfect. deal done and 1 child down.



we put sawyer up in bed bc we are certain she had nothing left in her belly. we were wrong. we heard her puke again, and EJ goes to grab her. more laundry. lol

all the while, reese has been sleeping through this in the pack n play in our room. good little 1 month old :)

...until she got hungry. okay. no biggie. so i scoop her up and take her to the couch to feed her. EJ sits with sawyer on the bed and i *hear* sawyer puke from the bedroom. i run in with reese in tow, turn around and let her swing bc i DO NOT want her sick, and help EJ strip the bed and clean up sawyer. again.

i go back to feeding reese and decide that she's gonna have to sleep upstairs tonight in her room. first night ever (bc i am super lazy at night lol). its after 130am? at this point. at least. i really dont remember.

our bed is too high for sawyer to sleep on with us. it comes up to my chest-ish when standing so we make a pallet in the pack n play for sawyer. EJ sleeps on the floor, I sleep on the stripped bed with 1 blanket and we all pass out.

we wake up a few times to gagging noises and throw sawyer up onto a towel and eventually we all go to sleep for good -- well until reese wakes up at 630am to eat. while im feeding reese and EJ jumps in the shower, i hear sawyer throw up AGAIN. i throw her in the shower with EJ, finish feeding reese and eventually put sawyer back up in her own bed.

i am tired. ive already steam cleaned MORE this morning. but sawyer and reese are sleeping right now and aidan is just playing so i wanted to remember how the night went. yawn. 3 kids are fun. exciting. giggly. and there's so much love every day. its rewarding.



but it can be exhausting. and today, as i feel like i did in college after i stayed up all night during finals - while only drinking diet coke, eating cheetos, and smoking cigarettes... im mentally fried. but of course worth it, right? ;)

then don't eat it.

i say this probably every day. no, really.

as a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it, or leave it. ~buddy hackett

sawyer is somewhat like a garbage disposal. she will eat most anything.

aidan, on the other hand, has only a few food groups.

1. cheese. more so queso, but whatever. really any mexican food, including beans and rice.
2. velveeta shells and cheese.
3. carbs. like pasta, tortillas, jelly toast, grilled cheese.
(you seeing a theme?)
4. poptarts.
5. pepperoni. on pizza or not. she's not picky. *eyeroll*
6. donut holes.
7. FRUIT!!!! WIN!!! any kind. i can fill her up all day on fruits!!!
8. chicken nuggets.
9. meat from a pig. like sausage, ham, bacon... and hot dogs. i'll pretend thats from a pig to make myself feel better. ;) mooooving on...
10. cereal. luckily, her fave is special k with red berries.

ok, yes, i am being funny for blog's purposes. I DO FEED HER MORE THAN THESE ITEMS. but that doesn't mean she likes them. she tries them (sometimes). and by tries, i mean "puts it in her mouth, gags and spits it back onto the plate"... or into my hand. thats always a delightful part of being a mother.

EJ or i make dinner. and aidan will say "i no WANT that". ok, dude. "then don't eat it."

if i leave the plate in front of her, 2 things may happen: 1. it sits there. until i pick it up. 2. she eats it. but i never know which will happen.

am i a short order chef? yes. sadly, i give into that. but it depends on how much aidan has eaten all day. because, here's the deal. there are a few types of eaters, in my opinion.

1. kids who eat all the time.
2. kids who eat at meal time.
3. kids who rarely eat. and then make up for it later.

aidan is the latter. if she ate a big breakfast, she prob won't eat lunch. and then will eat a small dinner. then prob won't eat breakfast the next day, will eat lunch, and then something for dinner. so if she truly doesn't want to eat dinner - i think "well she had a big lunch" let her have an apple and some toast (if thats what she so chooses) and she's perfectly full til morning.

do i worry about it? no. i see asked online all the time "OMG MY KID DIDN'T EAT LUNCH!!! should i wake him from nap early?!!?!" <--- ok thats an exaggeration. but its similar to that sort of dramatics. sawyer is, um, lets just say #1 on my eaters list. she eats non-stop. and oddly, is my twig. her little waist fits into her last year's 12mon shorts lol she will bring a snack in the car on the way to dinner. eat tons of dinner. and then pick the rest of that snack back up on the way home. its fascinating. i never thought id have a bottomless pit after having a kid like aidan. lets use tonight as an example. aidan had a huge breakfast, didnt want to eat lunch, and then dinner time came... EJ grilled some sort of bratwurst or sausage something for sawyer. aidan wanted none of that. "then don't eat it". she wanted "QUESADILLA!!" (which, by the way, in aidan's terms, is a tortilla with a side of queso). i tossed a tortilla at her and then actually made her quesadillas lol she ate them. la dee da. which by the way i let eat in the cabinet. i do this often bc she eats more here lol (oh, and dont mind the outfit. she actually wore this to target as well - with flip flops and sunglasses hanging on the front. pick your battles...)

some might say, slip some chicken in there! really tiny pieces!! - fail. tried that. she feared the quesadillas that i made for about 2 weeks until i proved to her that it really was only cheese and tort. sigh.

so anyway, im up for recs for kids like her :) but if not, just take note that your kid isn't the only "bad eater". your kid is also NOT going to die if he doesn't eat dinner. kids eat when they are hungry. some are more hungry than others. i promise.

what we do all day.

stay at home moms ask on message boards all the time - "hey! what do you SAHMs do all day? do you have a schedule?"

why yes. we do. so here goes it.

[keep in mind this is obviously aidan and sawyer's stuff. reese's schedule is simple. sleep. wake up to eat. look around for a while. go back to sleep. lather, rinse, repeat]

A and S wake up anytime between about 830-930am usually.

i get them, change them, put clothes on them, brush teeth and we head downstairs.

they are rarely "sitters" for breakfast. we usually grab breakfast and take it into my bathroom where they picnic on blankets and eat while i take a shower or get ready. sometimes aidan does her "makeup" with me lol (and copycat sawyer is getting into that now too, of course).

other times, i get ready before they even wake up.

then we plan the day. i try to get out of the house in the mornings 90% of the time. some days, we just play in the gameroom instead.

when i can go to the gym again (and the schedule for a while) will be/has been - go to gym at about 9am. class at 930. be home by 11ish. if we dont go to the gym, we walk around the store. and basically the same timeline applies. we used to go for walks, but its SO HOT out now by this time that its not worth it. they love it though



i asked aidan a couple days ago if she wanted to go for a walk. she thought for a moment and said "momma, we gonna need a BIG STROLLER!!" lol she is right.

then lunch and getting ready for naps.

i will start off by saying how lucky i am. i have great sleepers *knock on wood* sawyer will nap for around 3 hrs without a fight. aidan used to. but now she has "rest time" in her room for a little bit. usually until she says "ok, i come down now" and i go get her. her room is a haven for little girls and she rarely ever argues about rest time. she has her dollhouse, littlest pet shop sets, blocks, and [judge away] her tv mounted on the wall (only set up for dvds. no cable or tv or anything). where i time her movie for a little bit and she relaxes. she NEEDS this time. without it, i pretty much hear nothing but tears over anything by 4pm. its miserable. she gets too over-stimulated or something. her room usually looks as if toys r us puked in there by the time she is done playing (or she pulls out blankets lol), but thats okay.



anyway, this is when i pick up the house from the first 1/2 of the day and throw in laundry. and do things like im doing now - nothing. blogging. message boarding. facebooking. editing pics. etc.

when they wake up we have a snack. and do anything from this list -

gameroom playtime



pool time or sprinkler time outside



coloring/painting (lol)



etc... but we RARELY leave after naptime. there's no point. lol EJ gets home soon enough and then the evening schedule begins.

we eat dinner. now that its summer, we eat outside sometimes.



sawyer wants a "lick! lick!" outside after dinner. fine by me ;) they'll have a popsicle or something and then we're back inside for baths. bc, um, sawyer usually looks like this:



EJ does bathtime. always has. now, i usually have to feed reese during this time so it works out nicely. sometimes they might take a shower.





then we chase them. as they go crazy running through the downstairs naked.



go upstairs and brush teeth.



and then some gameroom play and bedtime.

i give sawyer a bottle (99% water) and drop her in bed with her paci and blankies.

i turn on aidan's movie, time it for a few mins, give her her scoozie dogs (all 3 of them plus "baby scooze") and something to drink.

and thats that. they get into bed by 730pm at the latest. then its time with EJ and reese downstairs :) reese sometimes cluster feeds at night, but lately she's been going down between 9 and 10, up at about 2am, and then up at 6ish. but then back down until i feed her in the morning again :)

so thats that. a rough schedule of our day. the trials and tribulations of things such as the store with 3, how they are situated in my car, and other things like bad moods... will be discussed later. haha

the question (s).

"so are you guys gonna try for a boy?"
"wow. three? so are you going to have any more?"
"are you out of your mind yet?"

ok, people don't really ask the last one. i mean, they are likely thinking it. ;) and if you are secretly wondering the answer - no, i have not lost my mind yet.

now to the other questions (which by the way i think is totally odd that people ask them 1. when i only have a newborn or 2. when i was pregnant). anyway.

we do not *try* for a gender. would a boy be fun? im sure. would i be totally happy with 3 (or more) girls? you bet your ass.

let me explain. girls are amazing. lol im not discounting that boys may be just as fun. but man, i could spend all day listening to girly giggles coming from the other room or (ear piercing) shrills of excitement as they run out of the bathroom after bath time and scurry throughout the house naked as we try to chase them down to clothe them. i love tutus and makeup. i love to paint their nails. i love doing their hair. all of it. love.

and newsflash: EJ doesn't mind it either. (pick your jaw up from the floor) its surprising to me the, what seems like, pity he gets from strangers when we are all out. "wow, 3 girls? what did YOU do in a previous life?". "whoa. all girls! sorry, dude!"

huh?

we have 3 totally perfect children. give us high 5's. not comments of "oh. too bad you didnt have a boy!". i don't even know what id do with one ;)

its strange, but thus is society i suppose. lol

ok, now on to the other question. i have no idea if we'll have more kids. who am i to predict the future? would that be okay? yes. would it be okay if we didnt? yes. so since i JUST had a ball of love named reese --- why don't you give us a few months to decide about another one, ok?

well, except for aidan - she can ask. and she does. "you got another baby in that belly?" lol no aidan, not right now. but i mean, who can blame her for asking, right? thats how she knows me! haha im the giver of sisters. and for her - that seems to be alright.

any other questions i missed? :) if so - let me know. i will answer.

copy-cats.

or as aidan said yesterday "no, i a copy-dog" ;)

don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you. ~robert fulghum

ooooh how true these words are. and we all end up learning the hard way, right? youre in the store and your kid drops his cookie and says "shit". oops. the elderly lady at the end of the aisle grimaces at you intently. looking for you to punish or reprimand. but what can you do except giggle and say "oh no we dont say that" all while knowing: its your fault. (which, btw, it is my fault that sawyer says "oh shit" when she has a poopy diaper. dont' judge. you would say it too if you saw her barnyard-esque poops).

kids are copiers by nature. aidan copies EJ and myself. sawyer copies us all. it all came to light when we were in lowe's a few months ago. they can big car-like carts that the kids just love.

the girls hop in and we're driving down the aisles. til we slow down... and aidan honks the horn and shouts "ASSHOLE!!" for shame on me and my road rage. lol EJ asks "aidan where did you hear that?" and without a beat, she says "momma's car". oops.

it can be the little things, too. sawyer asks "where's daddy?" and when i tell her "the other room" she yells "E.J.!!!!!" throughout the house - as i do. :) sawyer is the biggest copy cat of all. as "monkey see. monkey do." comes to mind when i think of A and S.



so i always remember to quietly remind aidan that sawyer is watching her. and that, perhaps, jumping off the side of the couch was a bad thing to teach her.

simple things such as mannerisms also rub off. memorial day wkend, my SIL's arm was sprained and she had to hold it close to her body. we never talked about it. but aidan noticed. that night she said "i hold my arm right here like nikki". whodathunk that she noticed - but she did. kids are always watching ::twitch::

so, i post this as a simple reminder as you drive through rush hour traffic. i try to yell out "BAD DRIVER!" as often as i can instead of the choice words i used before (or, um, choice gestures?) ;) no better time than the present to teach children about the rules of the road, right?

do you have a story like these? let me know!

3 kids. 3.5 years.

i decided im starting an actual blahg, blog. like, one with words instead of pictures. part of the reason is bc when im on mom message boards, i get sick and tired of typing out the same thing over and over again. so, its like a quick reference guide for that.

the other reason is because now, starting with the birth of #3, i sort of want to chronicle the differences in how i parented all 3. lol i mean, what i didnt do, what i did/didnt need, as well as the funny things that happen along the way.

this blog may end up a huge fail. i may stop in a few days, but i doubt it - or rather, i hope not. i feel like im missing a huge part by not writing down the funny things they say, the every day banter, and i'd also like to remember "what did i do in that situation?". so here's where i'll put it.

i should start off by introducing myself and my family. most people reading this will know me as amanda or, possibly, punkfiction. lol i'm a (just turned) 27 year old mom of 3.


my husband, EJ, and i have been married for 3 years this coming august - so yes, life has been busy. and i have loved [almost] every min of it ;)

(excuse his horrible "didnt do it bc we were up at 5am to go to the hospital" hair)


he is my best friend and we complement each other in the most amazing ways. i am more than just lucky to have such an amazing husband and fabulous relationship.

our oldest daughter, aidan, is 3.5.



she is my heart. she wears her emotions on her sleeve and is sensitive and caring. she holds your hand when you look sad. she rubs your head if youre sick. i remember she happened to be at the u/s that confirmed our m/c last summer - not even knowing what was going on, she came up to the table i was laying on, held my hand, and said "its okay momma". love.

she is obstinate and vocal. she remembers EVERYTHING. she says the funniest things in the world. she plays on her laptop and tells me "i checking my facebook momma" and asks me every morning "what we doing today?" (if i cant think of anything, like a girl after my own heart, she recommends starbucks and target). she is my oldest. she will always have that special "buddy" place in my heart - to be shared by others, but never replaced.

our middle daughter, sawyer, is almost 23 months old.



she is my soul. she is our comedian and i never would have thought it. starting off as the baby who would look at you like "wtf" when you waved at her, her nickname of "the judger" is still intact as well. she has no problem letting you know with her many disapproving faces that she is unimpressed with something. but not food, she, at 25% weight or so (but tall) has a never-ending black hole for a stomach. its actually fascinating to see. she has a word for everything and is the biggest copy-cat of all time. and with most toddlers, you say it once, she remembers and has found a new word/phrase.

she is my toughie. never needing a bandaid (unlike aidan who wears them bc she feeeeels hurt lol) and rarely needing a comforting hug after a nasty fall. she will jump/fall from anything. no fear. just like her daddy. but, sawyer does not lack emotion or heart. instead of "up" she says "hug you..." when she wants you to pick her up. she will sit in your lap with her "bankie! and paci!!" for a long time. she will holler after everyone else goes to bed just to come down and spend 15-20 mins with EJ and i alone - and we are more than happy to oblige. she's a cuddler who will take a break to get up and steal aidan's toy. she purposely does things to annoy her older sister and you cant do anything but giggle at her genius schemes. middle child syndrome she lacks. personality she does not.

our youngest daughter, reese, is 1 month old tomorrow.



soon i will write a longer entry about her - as we get to know her better, but i'll tell you want i *do* know. i know she is gorgeous and perfect in every way. i know she loves to cuddle. and i know she thinks our bed is the bee's knees. lol :) i know she likes to sleep (haha for now?) and i know she'd rather be left alone to do so as she eyes you and gets slightly annoyed to be held while the other 2 want to point out her nose or give her sweet, sweet kisses. i also know that i love her. your heart grows with the more children you have - thats for sure.

a parent's love is whole no matter how many times divided. ~robert brault

as i get to know her more, i have a few educated guess about what i may see: that she will have quite a personality, that she and her sisters will be friends and enemies all in the same breath, but that they will love each other beyond what i can even comprehend. i dont know if reese will be like the other 2 or exactly opposite, but i cannot wait to find out.



so there you go. we have all been introduced. now im off to figure out what topics i will write about first. all while i make sure i use this blog for a diary (of words, not pics. i already have that HERE.) for things my children do - the good, the bad, and how i handle it all as a stay at home mom of 3 under 4.

let me know if there's anything specific you think would be good to add.