As Usual

I let another month go between posts. I guess that's become my new norm.  Something had to give and I can't completely neglect the children, husband, or kids.

As I'm writing this, Simon and Charlotte are napping, Mina is playing games on the iPad, and Jon is on a plane to Minneapolis, then California.  So far, so good.  It's exceedingly rare that Charlotte and Simon nap at the same time.  I try to enjoy every minute of it, whether that means catching up on my to-do list or sitting on my butt.  

I have tomorrow off so getting the blog done today means more sitting on my butt time in the future. I might even watch a chick flick or take a nap.  Whoever says that mother-in-laws are awful, obviously doesn't have one like mine!  She's taking all three kids for me all day tomorrow, then making us all supper. Score.

So now we come to the photo bomb. Jon  bought a new camera for me for Valentine's Day so there's a mix of photos from the old and new camera.  Some day I'll actually try to take more than quick snap shots.  I don't know when that will be since I don't take the time to put make-up on most days, but at least I have a nice camera for when that day comes.  When I was in high school, I used to spend a whole afternoon hiking around taking nature photos. I can't even imagine having that kind of time on my hands.

My oldest niece, Hailey, came over for some math help one day.  Charlotte just loves teaching other people the joy of algebra. Ha!  I did enjoy going over graphing with Hailey. Her family's house sold and my brother in law, Matt, found a job in another town so they're all moving away.  I try to not even think about it because I'm going to miss them all.  It will give us another reason to visit in the Des Moines area.  Hailey won't have me close by for math help though.  Maybe they should just stay.

 Charlotte enjoys how huge the new camera is. She'll even cheese it up for me. Here's a senior picture pose.

 I know this is random, but it gives me the giggles. Charlotte loves croutons. I made some popcorn and had croutons out to put on a salad. Charlotte decided her popcorn needed croutons. All of the croutons.  This is proof that my kids don't always eat the best food.

 Here I am doing my favorite thing.  There's nothing like snuggling a three year old.

It's been a pretty awful winter unless you like snow. I hate snow.  My girls, however, LOVE snow.  They get all dressed up and play out there until their faces are pure red. They come inside demanding hot chocolate afterwards.  I enjoy watching them from inside the house.

Simon is just too cute. He's pushing up more when he's on his tummy. He can roll both ways. He looks so much like Charlotte with those big blue eyes.

I tried to get a picture of him sitting, but this is all we caught. He can do the tripod sit briefly (where his hands are held together on the floor in front of him).  He's a chill baby and doesn't have an urge to blow through all the milestones like his sisters. That's fine by me.

 Simon loves riding on my legs.

 Simon was baptized last month also.  He was very well-behaved. His sisters entertained the congregation. Mina kept pulling on Simon's legs. Charlotte almost pulled down the whole baptismal font.

 Go Cyclones!

 Here's a picture from yet another snow storm. Mina and Jon made this awesome snowman.  It has grapes for eyes, a real carrot nose, rocks for the smile and buttons, golf clubs for arms, and a Bacon Fest hat.

 Facetime is cool. We made use of it when Jon was in Iowa City last month and we plan to use it again while he's in California. I'm so lucky to have a husband that is rarely out of town. Facetime isn't nearly as good as the real thing.

 Mina loves her little brother so much. She spent part of a nap time snuggling with him in my bed. Cute.

 Simon has the same opinion of snow as I do.  Not a fan.

 Jon bought this snowsuit for the little guy before he was born so we took him out to "play" after the last snow storm.  Seriously. It shouldn't be snowing in March.

 What a pair.  It was darn windy outside.

 Here I am faking happiness for the camera.

We've done naked time for Simon a couple of times. I'm amazed that he has kept the blanket dry.  Anyway, he's awfully cute in his birthday suit.

 He's a happy guy most of the time. Finally!

 Charlotte and Mina love to pick out their own clothes.  Here they are all dressed up for tumbling class.

 I love my cute guys. 

 Mina had me take her picture because she knows how much I love purple.

 I can't help but giggle at this self portrait. I was trying to take a picture of us with Simon. Poor Simon.

 We took Simon to Florida for a vacation/conference. He was terrible. Terrible.  I don't even really want to write about it.  There was lots of screaming and not a lot of putting him down.  We did have some fun times - He was great on the plane both ways. We got to see friends that live down there. He was happy sometimes in his stroller outside. He enjoyed his bath.  I'll just leave it at that.

 Mina, Mina, Mina...she knows just how to make Simon happy.

Until next time...

Calming Down

Now that the holidays and birthdays are over with, things are finally settling down.  I can spend all my time kissing and loving on the kids again. Well, maybe not, but at least my stress level has significantly decreased.

It also helps that Simon is soooo much easier. He's getting stronger and more interested in his surroundings. He smiles a lot and giggles once in a while.  He's the perfect size in my arms.  I call him "the snuggler" sometimes.  Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.  

Si tried out the exersaucer for the first time. He was a bit small so we stuffed some blankets in there with him. I love how chubby his neck looks in this picture.

 Simon has gotten to experience naked time.  He was a fan.

 Mina is even more nuts for Simon now that he smiles.  She can pick him up into sitting position for a nice squeeze.

 He's an old pro at the exersaucer now.

 This gorgeous outfit is on loan from a friend.

 Simon was putting up with Mina while she blew on his belly.

I'm sort of dreading next week since that's the week that Jon will be gone for a few days.  We have a lot planned so hopefully time will pass quickly.  At least I'll be able to watch whatever I want at night.  Too bad Duck Dynasty doesn't have new episodes until later in the month.

I've been spending a lot of time at the gym.  Yesterday I was asked if I lost all my baby weight and I was happy to be able to say that I have.  Now I need to put down the peanut butter M & M's and work on those last ten pounds I'd still like to lose.  I've added running and zumba in with my regular exercise.  Running sucks, but zumba is fun. I'm a terrible dancer so I just laugh and try my best.  That's a great improvement in my attitude.  Simon loves to be in kid care and watches all of the kids around him.  Sometimes I go in to pick him up and he's getting a good snuggle in with the workers.  They've told me how wonderful he is repeatedly so that makes it really easy to take an hour to exercise.

On the other hand, I've been overscheduling some of my days. It got to the point that I had to think long and hard about when I'd have time to get gas in the van.  The fuel light was on, but I had kids to drop off, Simon to feed, a gym class to get to, etc.  I've started getting groceries at 6am just to avoid bringing the kids along.  It's an adjustment, but it's getting easier.

Three

Simon turned three months and Charlotte turned three years this month.  It also turned 2013 and we had a big New Year's Eve party at our house. It was so nice to not have to travel this year.  A bunch of our college/tailgating friends came over with their kids and some even stayed overnight. The kids had a blast playing together. No one was majorly injured so it was all good.  The night almost fell apart when we couldn't find Charlotte's pinkies, but they were found before she needed to go to sleep.  

 Simon got to snuggle lots of people.  He enjoyed that.

As usual, I haven't blogged for a while so this will be a mish mash of pictures and activities.  

Charlotte has been making this face when she's a monster. I hope you're terrified.

Simon loves getting a bath.  He doesn't splash too much yet so he's staying in the baby tub for a while longer.

 Mina loves showing off the gap in her smile. She knows how cute she is.

 Jon got a bonus check at Christmas time so we indulged Bubba with a new sofa. He's getting old.

Mina just loves Simon. I've had to make up a new song called, "Don't touch my head. Don't pull my legs."  She's not catching on to that one.  Simon was putting up with the head snuggles in this picture, but he really doesn't like it when kids go anywhere near his head. Poor guy.

 I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have these three kids.  They're awesome.

 And a little bit crazy...

The girls look so old in this picture. Mina loves to play Star Wars Angry Birds and Charlotte loves to do puzzles and mazes on the iPad.

Simon is so smiley and alert.  I just got him to start laughing a couple of days ago.  He's much more pleasant than he was last month.  I can lay him on the carpet and talk to him and this is what he does.

We went to the Yo Gabba Gabba! concert in Des Moines on January 15th.  It was a fantastic time for all five of us. Jon had originally only bought three tickets, thinking I'd go with the girls and he'd stay home with Si.  With nursing, that was going to be really challenging, so he bought a couple more tickets and we were able to all go.  I hope it's one of Mina's first memories.  It was Charlotte and Simon's first concert.

Confetti paper flew out at the kids at the beginning and Charlotte clutched a piece she caught in the air for most of the concert.  I loved seeing her so happy.  Mina is more like me and sat quietly taking it all in.

 The Gabbas!

 Charlotte danced and danced and danced.

 Jon bought the girls toys during intermission.  What a sucker. :)

Simon was happy during the whole thing.  I wore him in the bjorn for a while, then Jon held him in his arms until he fell asleep. Yes, he fell asleep.  It was amazing how the timing all worked out perfectly. He nursed while we ate supper before the concert and then nursed in the van while we sat in the parking garage afterwards.  I love it when things work out well like that.

 Charlotte and Mina collected some papers. They wanted to get it all, but my pockets weren't big enough.

I got out from behind the camera for a second to show off my YGG! shirt with the girls.  I felt so cool since multiple people asked me where I got my shirt.  Delia's.

We were so excited and surprised when the girls got asked to go up on stage.  I didn't have the camcorder and rushed around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get pictures and video of everything. Jon was busy holding onto Simon.  My cell phone was full of pictures and videos already so I missed a bit, but got the most important stuff on either picture or video.

Biz tried to get Charlotte to do some beat boxing, but she was too shy.  The audience seemed to think she was cute though.  My phone died about 30 seconds before this so I don't have it on video.

 Mina wasn't afraid to beat box with Biz.  Yay!

They got to stay up on stage for a while and danced. I do have that on video that I linked up on Facebook.  It's on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRs9YaP4D8I

One night we went to Target so Mina could spend her dollars on something at the One Spot.  She picked out a microphone so Charlotte picked a microphone also.  Not good.  Not good at all.

You might notice that Charlotte wears this same outfit all the time.  The only way you can tell one day from the next is by looking at how faded her tattoo gets.

 Mina showing off her hilarious smile once again.

 I asked Charlotte how old she was turning and this is what she showed me. Oh my.

The girls played together really nicely on Charlotte's birthday.  My rule for the day was "Charlotte always wins."  That greatly reduced their squabbles.

 They built a huge castle for the princesses with an enclosed walkway.

 Charlotte made the princesses walk in the walkway and talk with funny voices. Mina was the builder.

We held Charlotte's birthday party at the hotel so we could swim and so I wouldn't have to do as much work. Mina practiced "swimming on top of the water."  She's getting pretty good. I'm glad she'll be old enough for real swim lessons this summer.

Charlotte was so happy to be able to reach everywhere in the hot tub. I couldn't believe her ability to go from cold pool to hot tub and back and forth without issue. Brr!

 Here she is showing off how she can reach if she walks on her tip toes.

 We had pizza, fruit, and veggies before it was time for cake and ice cream.

Charlotte was all about blowing out the candles. She knew just what to do (though she had to blow harder than her first try).

 Mina made a wonderful card for Charlotte, complete with a picture of them together with appropriate hair.

 Charlotte was such a happy girl at the party. She loved having all of the family there.

Now that Charlotte is three, she's old enough for story time at the library. We hadn't been to the library since this summer.  I've been lazy about it.  It's a lot of work getting all of the kids in there together and we have a lot of books at home.  I use up all my energy getting them in and out of the gym instead. Anyway, Charlotte had a couple of friends in story time. She held hands with Nicole while they were waiting to get their name badges.

 At least one kid cooperated for the story time picture.

 Typical.

So that's what's been going on with us.  Simon is probably going to be baptized next month and I'm going to have a few days without Jon. Those should make for some interesting photo opportunities and chaos.