life with 4.

what a wonderful 3 (well, almost) weeks i've had. miller is an angel and i am making sure to soak up every sweet moment with her.

but i'll start with some catching up ;)

here is my photo set from the first week or so. ---> CLICK HERE.

annnnd here is my post from that same day ---> AHEM.

but, of course, there's been a lot of time since then, right?

everyone asks "so how is it with 4?!" and honestly, right now, not that much different. the difference will be in a few months when she's not sleeping so much. haha

my day has been adjusted mainly for feedings. i wake up a bit earlier to feed miller and then i get aidan and sawyer up. i get them dressed, food started, and hair done -- then i go wake reese up. i feed her, A and S get shoes and socks on, we all pack up and head to school.

getting in and out for school is the hard part lol as MANY of you know from facebook (and the longest status comment thread ive ever had for something so mundane lol) i had to get another double stroller. i drive a tahoe. captain seats in the middle and then 3rd row. so miller and reese are in the middle. and i send aidan and sawyer to the back. but its only a tahoe... so i have ZERO trunk space, then. (before i had 4, i took out 1/2 of the 3rd row so i could put a ton of stuff back there - including my MONSTER kolcraft duo - but not anymore).

so i got a super light and very thin double (peg perego) that fits in the back nicely. ::confetti:: we went to buybuybaby about 100x trying double strollers. and seeing if theyd fit. and for now, this is great -- all i need it to do is put reese and miller into a stroller to take aidan and sawyer to school. the halls are so busy, the last thing i want to do is chase reese around!! :) later, i want to sell one or both of the doubles and then put it towards a BOB double jogger. but i'll wait until M is out of the bucket, for that. annnnnd a suburban haha

ANYWAY. since i dont have the gym right now (boo. hiss. -- they dont take babies under 12 weeks so i freeze my account for those 3 months), after we do drop off, we just... go home... sometimes we run errands, but really, there's only so often i can go to target (thats a lie)! luckily, the past 3 weeks have kept me busy with a dr appt here and there, lunch with friends, and the amazing amount of laundry that shows up every day...

::sorry i am babbling. im watching "brideday friday" on TLC and sort of distracted::

oh, hey, remember that time we moved sawyer and aidan into the same room? yeah. good times //sarcasm

well that has ended. i thought theyd get bored. i thought theyd realize that "OMG I HAVE THE REST OF THE DAY TO PLAY, FIGHT, MAKE UP, PLAY MORE!!" but they didnt realize that. and, in the end, weren't getting enough sleep.

we then tried reese and sawyer. um. bwhahahahaha.

so, since we never actually made up miller's room completely (sawyer's old room), we moved her back. so now sawyer has a newly painted room, new curtains, and is alone again. its been so nice. and quiet.

we will do reese and miller when we move miller out of the PNP in our room. because miller wont be getting out of bed, twirling around the room, singing, and living with her head in the clouds making reese crazy.... like sawyer did. so im hoping that M and R works... then we'll move out of this house. haha 2012 is year of the "get the house ready and upgrade from a 4br to a 5br spring 2013!"

hmmm other things... OH! sleep! the last weeks of pregnancy were worse, to be honest. i was waking up so cranky and uncomfortable. peeing non stop. ugh. but at least i get a few hours here and there! some random nights i get super lucky and have a really large span of time - like 5-6 hours. BUT that is not the norm. the "norm" is about 4 hrs -- but starting at 8pm. so when we go to bed at 9 and are asleep by 1030 or so (hey, we like pillow talk!! lol) thats not a lot of sleep before the first wake up.

thats no one's fault but my own, though ;) like, right now, for instance, i should be sleeping!

during the day, miller is awake a lot in the mornings, but then crashes in the afternoon. then she cluster feeds all evening.

as for breastfeeding, this has been the easiest kid so far. i know a lot of you have talked about anxiety while BFing and know that thats how it was with reese. but this time is so... relaxed. i even NIP at chickfila today haha she's a good eater and while i still have those "OMFG I HAVE TO DIG MY NAILS INTO SOMETHING AND NOT SAY 100 CURSE WORDS" seconds at first letdown/latch -- then its fine! hahaha that pain has been getting better though - and ive been told that 3 weeks is average, so we'll see.

im trying to think of anything else thats changed -- but really, its just one more sweet, amazing person in our family to love.

aidan and sawyer are simply over the moon in love with miller. they watch her. hug her. kiss her. they have to say goodnight to her. and goodbye when they are at school. but none of that really surprised me. they are so good to each other and reese, that i knew itd be okay.

reese, on the other hand, is hilarious. she's not *jealous*, really, but she just doesnt particularly care about miller. she doesnt want to hold her or anything (and if you know reese, she does that grunt and shoulder shift of "like hell, dude. no room here") but then she will always come running with a blanket for her. and will rub her head. :) so i think she just has to wait for miller to be something other than a crying and sleeping thing that seems to be hanging around. lol luckily, reese gets a lot of time with me during the day - so that helps :)

in the end, im just REALLY trying to soak it all in. i dont know what the future holds for us for more kids or not -- and i want to spend every moment i can loving on this newborn stage. i am the first one to have admitted before that i am more of a "toddler mom", but this time is so different... sigh... now i want to go snuggle her lol

maybe ill add to this later - or another post -- or ask me something that you want to know? just comment!!

[yes, i need to update the header to this blog. and my TYLWL blog. ill get to it ;)]

day 6.

Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy



ok. so its multiple pictures. but let me explain. nothing makes me swoon more than how my children are with each other. simply best friends. playing in the rain, making reese laugh, sitting on the couch cuddling in a blanket. i could not imagine life any other way. its the best.

happy anniversary.

to EJ. :)


so. three years later. phew. its been a busy 3 years i suppose. but every min has been fabulous.

sometimes i think we have a "leg up" on people who have been married a long time and then have kids - all we've ever known (besides the first 8 months or so of dating/drunken/college/craziness times) is kids. maybe thats why 3 doesn't seem so "OMG YOU HAVE THREE KIDS UNDER 4!!" like some people make it out to be - yeah, we do. and its just fabulous.

timeline for those wondering:

met july 05
dating sept 05
living together sept 05
pregnant march 06
found out may 06
had aidan dec 06
engaged feb 07
married aug 07
pregnant with sawyer nov 07
had sawyer july 08
pregnant with m/c baby may 09
m/c july 09
pregnant with reese aug 09
had reese may 10

:)

everything has worked out so beautifully that i thank my lucky stars every day. granted, we have some amazing family members that help us out - and let us keep a semblance of "normal" as best as possible for a 27 and 28 year old couple. we have date nights, vacations sans kids, i can run errands alone if i need to, etc.

but let me say - EJ is my soulmate. yeah, how effin corny, right? but truly - he is my perfect counterpart. if you are a FB friend, you know how well he treats me - i should belong on lamebook.com sometimes for all the nerdy "omg guess what EJ did" statuses i have. but i just adore him. he is handy. he is thoughtful. he is a dork. he is funny. he is just da bomb.

and i mean, lets be honest, he has been 1/2 of the most gorgeous children ever ;) thank heavens he gave them all the hair that he did lol

so i guess i just want to say "thanks, babe". thanks for being the best hubby i could imagine. i love you and i love our family and i couldnt ask for anything more.


p.s. thank you for my Bamboo: FUN for our anniversary. ::drool:: editing pictures is just the bee's knees now!

in case you needed some more convincing.

of why 2 under 2 is fabulous.

watch the girls here.

2under2. twice.

aidan and sawyer are 19.5 months apart.

sawyer and reese are 21.5 months apart.

perfect, in my opinion. and i would not have it any other way :)

some days are crazy. some days i want to curl up and sleep. some days are filled with 100% fun. some days are lazy. some days are busy with errand after errand. but EVERY day is filled with sisterly love.

its amazing to watch, really. aidan and sawyer are the best of friends.


they love reese. if you were at my house and said goodbye to A and S and didnt say goodbye to reese - they would remind you.

they kiss and hug each other for no reason. or just walk up to reese and tickle her. i love having close in age sisters (well right now at least. talk to me when they are 13, almost 15, and 16.5 haha)

anyway, there a few things that i've learned in the past few years that helped me transition into life with 2 under 2. twice.

1. chinese fire drill. well, thats what it sort of seems like getting kids in and out of the car. now i put reese in, aidan gets in and does her chest clip, i get sawyer in, then i reach and finish aidan's buckle. phew. but getting OUT is a different story. i grab reese's bucket and unhook aidan. then they both come with me to sawyer's side. aidan has been taught to "hold the car". always. i started doing this so long ago and now it is 2nd nature).

2. one thing that i always tried to remember when having a toddler and a newborn is: if both kids are sad - grab the toddler first. your newborn wont remember that it took you 5 seconds to hug your toddler. but your toddler WILL remember that you picked the new baby first.

3. when feeding the baby, have a box or bag or something new and fun for your toddler. something that you bring out only when you are feeding the baby so your toddler has something fun to do! new markers, paper, fun stickers, etc... it will distract them from the fact that you have to take a few mins to tend to someone else (when, i mean, theyve never had that before lol).

4. give your oldest jobs for the baby. my kids love to help pick out clothes, get diapers and even FEED reese :)


and its worth it to let them try to do all of those things - bc then they feel so wanted. when i was BFing reese, i gave aidan the job to tickle her feet so reese would stay awake! lol something simple, but she felt a "part" of it all.

5. prepare. and prepare early enough so your older kid has no idea things are related to the new baby. if youre gonna switch rooms, switch beds, take away the bottle or paci (thats for another post though lol) then do it long before your due date.

6. dont give too much freedom too early. i know a lot of people think "oh yay! i'll let my 18 month old stand in the cart!!" ok, well great, now what are you going to do when you dont want to wear your newborn and you want to put the bucket in there? or "woohoo! my 16 mo old can walk next to me at the store!" ok, cool - so how exactly are you going to chase him when he decides to walk the other way when you have a newborn sitting right there?

but then again, im of the vein "if it ain't broken - dont fix it". i keep my kids in carts until they straight up can step out themselves. lol my kids stay in cribs until they want to have a bed. ::shrug::

7. when walking into a store or somewhere, every kid has to be touching me or part of the group while walking. right now, i carry sawyer AND the bucket and aidan holds on to reese's seat. but if i wanted sawyer to walk then she'd be holding my hand while i held the bucket and aidan held that. i get twitchy when i see toddlers just putzing along without hold on to anyone.

8. make sure you make time for yourself. shower every day. get ready and GO OUT! 2u2 will make your head spin if you sit at home every day. put on some makeup - even if youre not in the mood to. go get a mani/pedi during naptime when your dh is home. SOMETHING for yourself.

im lucky bc i get to do things pretty much whenever i want to. of course i dont always want to ;) but if a friend asked me out for drinks one night - then likliness would be high that i could/would go. at least for a little bit. if i didnt have relaxation time - i would go nuts. even when friends come over, its such a fun nice release :)

9. schedule your day. essentially, 2u2 is no different than 1 (routine wise) if you have a rough schedule. youre just adding one more body. 1 more kid to feed. 1 more to change and get dressed. 1 more kid to bathe and put to bed. its a lot easier to take in if you look at it that way. our routine is crucial to our day. it can be as lax as "craft or store in the mornings" but something IS more or less "planned". we aren't just putzing around (most of the time) all willy nilly ;)

10. have fun. just relax. if you need to do housework - do it as a game. fold laundry together and talk about colors. have a ball mopping the floor and giggling. whatever it takes - have fun :)

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.

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

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.