Sweet Home Chicago

Mike traveled to Chicago for a conference Friday morning and returned last night (insert "sniff sniff" because I was not able to go with him and visit my hometown).  The kids and I managed fairly well while he was gone.  Unfortunately, school was cancelled early on Friday because "winter weather" hit our neck of the woods.  And by winter weather, I mean rain and a little sleet (doesn't take much for school to get cancelled here!).  But on the bright side, my mom came home a little early from her bridge tournament as well.  So while Mike was enjoying good food and company in Chi-town, I was able to hang out with the neighbors for an hour on Friday night and go out Saturday night as well to celebrate our neighbor's birthday.   It was great getting a break from the kids, but I found myself looking at the clock the whole time hoping Tyler would take the bottle from my mom.  Of course, he did without any problems!

Here's a picture of the girls yesterday playing with Play-Doh.  I wish playing together could always be this peaceful.

Naptime!

As my girls are squealing and giggling in the next room because they don't nap anymore, I have to document the occasion of Tyler napping for the first time in his crib.  He had been awake for a while this afternoon and seemed content, so I decided to lie him down in his crib to just see what would happen.  Of course, he has his own personal heater in his room and Ryan's Sweet Dreams Lullaby CD playing in the background (who wouldn't fall asleep with all that pampering).  Anyhow, after lying there and cooing for a little while, he actually feel asleep.  I unfortunately can't get a picture of him right now since I'm anti-flash on the camera and it's dark outside.  I know I'm bias as his mother, but he does look so darn cute sleeping there!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Enough said. . .

Missing Mom

I freely admit that I'm spoiled because my mom's bridge schedule (i.e., playing cards) usually allows her to pick up the girls from preschool 3 or 4 afternoons a week.  With my mom out of town this week (at a bridge tournament nonetheless), that means I'm driving over the mountain and back twice a day, so I'm behind on everything this week.  So not much time to blog right now, but here's a picture of my little guy from today.  One of the few times he's been happy today while awake, so I think he might be catching the cold we've all had.

Tyler's 3 Months Old!

Tyler is 3 months old today. How time flies! It seems like just the other day that he came home from the hospital. Here's some facts about Tyler at this age.

• Tyler weighs around 12lbs. 1oz. and measures approximately 22.5 inches. This week, Tyler stopped wearing some of his 0-3 month clothes because he is too long for them.  Of course, the 3-6 month clothes swallow him up right now.  It will be fun to watch him grow into them over the next few months.  
• Tyler is just like his big sister Grace and is a great sleeper.   The night before last he slept until 6:30 and this morning he was up at 5:30.  This past month, he has been averaging sleeping from 9:30pm to between 4:30 and 6:00am, so he's consistently sleeping 7-8 hour stretches at night.  With so much sleep at night, it amazes me that he still sleeps so much during the day.  He may be up for an hour, but then usually catnaps right after that for 1/2 hour to an hour before wanting to eat again. 
• Last week was Tyler's last week sleeping in the moses basket.  I was so sad to stop using it, but he's almost too big for it right now.  So I moved him to the Pack-N-Play right beside my bed.  He's slept really well in it, so we will likely move him to his crib soon. 
• Tyler has been smiling, giggling and cooing a lot more this month.  His sisters love to be near him and talk to him.  It is so cute when the girls tell me, "Mommy, Tyler is smiling at me!"
• Tyler still hiccups every couple of days and still grunts at times.  He does not cry much, other than when he is hungry or on his tummy.  He does not like tummy time!  After a minute on his tummy, he is crying and mad.  I did notice tears for the first time when he cried at around 11 weeks old. 
• We're always on the go, carting the girls to and from preschool, or going in and out of stores.  Tyler is such a good sport and always great for me when we're out.  I'm sure that will change, but for now, I'm enjoying our mobility.

Here's Tyler in the 12 month Gerber onesie at 3 months.  I wonder if he'll still fit in it by 1 year :)

Compared to his 2 month picture in the onesie below, he has filled out a lot this month!

Where oh where are the SCISSORS?

It's been a grand weekend in our house.  Let's see.  To start, Mike is on call this weekend.  Before every weekend call, I think maybe, just maybe, it won't be bad and he'll get done at a reasonable time on Saturday and Sunday.  And then Saturday comes and I quickly realize that I was deluding myself.  Yesterday, he left around 6:15am and did not get home until 8pm.  Can't wait to see what today brings!

On Friday while the girls were at preschool, I spent the morning cleaning out their rooms.  I'm in a purging mood right now and trying to get rid of all the excess "crap" we have.  So as I started throwing things away in Grace's room, I noticed hair in her trash!  I took a deep breath and thought, "How did she get a hold of scissors. .  . AGAIN!"  We had gymnastics after school that day and since it was not blatantly obvious to me at first glance where Grace cut her hair, I decided to wait to ask her about it until we got home.   Of course, my questioning of Grace's hair in the trash got me nowhere. . . after hearing multiple times, "I don't know," I just gave up because her hair did not look much different to me and I was secretly hoping the hair in the trash was leftover hair from our previous cutting episode.  It was not until brushing her hair on Saturday morning that I noticed one side was significantly thinner than the other.  So Grace has an even shorter hair cut now, and it's a good thing I'm into cleaning out because I hope to find the "missing" scissors soon.

To add to the fun of our weekend, check out what we woke up to this morning. . .

It's been raining heavy all night, and even with french drains in our backyard, a nice river is running through it.  The only consolation to me is that our backyard is not the only one looking like this right now.

Can't wait to see what today brings :)  My washing machine already appears to be having problems this morning, so stay tuned. . . here's to hoping the rest of the day brings me some "LUCK" (thanks Tina).

And then there's POOP!

When Grace was a baby, I remember hearing so many times how much easier it is to change a boy's diaper when they poop.  Because of the extra body part, the poop stays much more contained and does not require as much cleanup, right?  As I've quickly learned with my first boy, that statement is so far from the truth. . . or maybe it's only my boy! 

At about 7 weeks old, Tyler stopped pooping regularly.  We called the pediatrician's office after 3 days of no bowel movement and learned this can be quite normal for breastfed babies. . . we were told to call back if nothing happened after a week.  Well, of course, right at a week, Tyler relieved himself. . . let's just say I probably used half the case of wipes to clean him up.  Tyler's almost 13 weeks now and pooping once a week, if not longer, is his routine.

So, today was the first poopy diaper I've changed in 9 days - I think that's his record so far.  I'll definitely refrain from posting a picture to document this new record.  Suffice it to say, this morning's blowout was quite memorable for me though.

Outdoor Fun

We've had some warmer weather this week.  It's only January, yet this evening the tornado sirens went off and an EF2 tornado actually touchdowned in downtown.  The tornado came down about 15 miles north of us and in a residential area, so thank goodness there were no serious injuries.  Before all that excitement, we've been fortunate to enjoy spending our afternoons this week outside.

I'm all about equal opportunity and noticed from labeling the kids in the blog postings that Claire is behind in picture postings, so fortunately, she was the easiest to photograph outside yesterday. Even though the weather was in the 60s, Claire still thought she needed her hat.

First, Claire thought it would be fun to dig up Mom's mulch. . .

Then. she decided to ride the small bicycle, followed by a little jump roping . . .

Next, the Dora bike made it out of the garage. . .

Wait a minute, have to make sure we wear our helmet (and backwards of course). . .

Finally, I think we've tried about everything this afternoon.  Time to get the coat off and go inside. . .

Tummy Time Torture

I fully admit that with the third child, I am not very good about remembering to give tummy time.  Tyler especially loves the bouncy seat, so by default, I always seem to be putting him in there.  When I do remember to put him on his belly though, this is what I get. . .

Deals Deals Deals

Mike and I always look for deals, whether it is Buy One, Get One free at Publix, shopping at Marshall's or TJMaxx, searching for online coupons or free shipping, etc.  If I could just remember to bring the coupons I clip from the Sunday paper to Publix and Target each week, I'd do even better :) 

Last year at this time, I scored BIG when I just happened to be in Target the day they were putting all their excess toys on clearance for 75% off.  I got some really great stuff for really cheap and used the toys for birthday gifts and even Christmas this past year.  Fortunately (or unfortunately), I did pretty good this year too.  I think Target had less excess inventory after this Christmas season, so when they dropped those toys to 50% off, Mike and I both went at different times and got some great deals.  Now this past weekend our Walmart down the street marked a lot of their toys down 50% . 

Because Tyler's closet now looks like a toy store (not to mention there are also toys in my closet), I'm bound and determined to return some of the "deals" we found and also make a run to Salvation Army with toys and books the girls don't even look at anymore.  The trick is to not let my husband (who's really just a big kid) look through the Salvation Army bags first, otherwise the toys will just find their way back to the playroom. 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get back to more pictures!

Sweet Smiles

Tyler is 12 weeks old today.  I love this age and the smiles I get from him. . .

Pump It Up

The girls were invited to a birthday party at Pump It Up on Friday night.  We've missed so many birthday parties over the course of the year for various reasons, so I was excited that they would be able to make this party.  Of course, Mike was on call that night, so I went solo with all three of the kids.  Thankfully, Tyler decided to sleep the entire time, even with all the noise.

The last time we were at Pump It Up, Claire was terrified and would not leave my side.  This time was completely different.  She enjoyed jumping and sliding with Grace and our neighbor Lainey the entire time.

What a difference a year makes!  This time, Claire would not leave Lainey's side. . .

After all that jumping and sliding, everyone was definitely ready to eat pizza and eat cake.  Here's Claire with the birthday boy, Tucker. . .

And Grace with her good pal Lainey. . .

Lastly, I have to post this picture of Claire because this is her face of choice lately, especially when she is mad at me.  I don't like seeing it at the time, but it's funny to me in the picture.

Sleepy Boy

Here's to hoping sleeping all afternoon does not mean up all night. . .

Yum, cupcake!

From the moment we got home from preschool this afternoon, the girls were begging for one of the cupcakes Dad brought home from work yesterday.  Since I knew the whining and pleading would last all afternoon, I gave in as long as something healthy was eaten beforehand.  So we ate dinner in stages this afternoon.  Meat around 2pm, cupcake around 3pm, play at 4pm, and vegetables at 5pm.  Not your typical dinner but it seemed to work for us today :)  Here's our afternoon in pictures. . .

Grace pleading for a cupcake. . .

Grace, oh so thrilled, to be eating her meat. . .

Yum, Gigi's cupcake. . .

Go Irish!

I thought it would be a quiet night in our house tonight. I thought I'd do some picture editing, then watch American Idol and/or Biggest Loser. Well, I'm still trying to do those things, but it's not exactly quiet here. It's not Tyler or the girls making noise tonight. . . it's Mike's cell phone. It seems every other minute there is a text message coming in. Did Notre Dame just land a great football recruit, did our basketball team win? No. . . Lane Kiffin is leaving Tennessee for USC! You'd think Mike won the lottery with how excited he is over this news. So to celebrate what Mike hopes is USC's downfall and Notre Dame's uprising, here's a picture of our newest Irish fan.

Thumb vs Paci

It looks like I may have my first thumbsucker.  Tyler has never been that big of a fan of the pacifier, but he would take it if he was really fussy.  Well, for the last few days, he has decided that he really does not like the pacifier and has been trying to figure out how to get his thumb, fist, or any fingers in his mouth.   I'm hoping this is a passing thing and he'll go back to the pacifier or maybe nothing at all.  Both girls were very attached to their pacifiers, but at least it was relatively easy to get rid of their pacifiers entirely when they turned 2 (okay, maybe not easy, but only a couple of weeks of pain).  I, on the other hand, was a thumbsucker and it was not until I was 5 1/2 and my little brother came along that I gave up my thumb.  

As much as I hope Tyler goes back to the pacifier, it was fun trying to get pictures of him today with his potential new habit.

Pillow Fun

We enjoyed a pajama morning at our house. . . too cold for us to go outside. We didn't even have to walk outside to get our newspaper thanks to our good friend and neighbor who rang our doorbell at 9am with our paper - below 20 degrees but he and his daughter were out for a stroll to take advantage of our last few hours of snow.  Not us today - we're hunkering down inside.

So our sofa pillows were a source of fun (and of course fighting) for the girls this morning. Grace started the fun by trying to bury herself while watching cartoons and eating cereal.

Of course, when one sister has something, the other one wants it too. . .

I'm not sure this smile of Claire's is going to last too long!  It seems while Claire's eyes were tranfixed on the TV, Grace snagged all the pillows. . .

. . . wonder how long it's going to take her to notice :)

Hope everyone is enjoying a nice lazy Saturday, like we are! 

Snow Days

The girls made it back to school for one day after the Christmas break when we got SNOW!!!!  Yes, one inch of snow fell here yesterday, so schools let out early yesterday and were closed today.  To our midwest and northern family and friends, don't laugh when you see the pictures - everything shut down here with just 1 inch on the ground!  Even Mike's office closed early yesterday (though of course he was on call, so he was stuck at the hospital all day anyways).  While Tyler napped, I was able to get the girls out for a little while yesterday afternoon.

Mike's day off was today (though his office was closed, again), so the girls were excited to play outside in the snow with him this morning.  They had a great time while Dad pushed them down the driveway in their own version of a sled.  Mike even donned his bright orange hat and shiny blue pants for the occasion (hmm, aren't those Auburn colors when Bama just won the national championship last night).

Soon thereafter, the ramp came out for even more fun!

Then our neighbors came outside and enjoyed the fun with us!

Grace seems to be enjoying the snow here, but she did not last too long outside today!

Claire, on the other hand, did not mind the cold weather and was disappointed when Mom and Dad decided it was too cold to stay out any longer. 

Since it's not supposed to get above freezing this weekend, the snow will be sticking around for a few days.  So I'm sure we'll be out again and enjoying the snow while it lasts.

Picture of the Day

Before Tyler came along, I always found it difficult to get a good picture of the girls together.   Now it's even more challenging trying to capture three kiddos in a picture.  Well, today I thought we'd try since the girls were playful and interested in lying down next to Tyler.  I did not get exactly what I was hoping for, but here's the best one without Photoshoping heads - that may be a project for another day.

Brrrrr!

With temperatures in the 20s in the morning and low 30s during the day, we're staying inside and enjoying running the heat.  You'd never know it by looking at Grace this morning.  I made the girls oatmeal, went in the other room for a few minutes, and came back to this. . . .

After struggling eating with the gloves on and asking Mom for numerous napkins to clean them, Grace decided the gloves would be better off on the table than her hands.

Hope everyone is staying warm with this frigid weather!