Two Little Monkeys Jumpin' On The Bed

You'll have to forgive me for this post being so late.

I caught a cold and haven't been feeling the greatest.

This post is all about celebrating Baloanie's birthday.

These pictures make me want to pinch her cheeks!

The day started out with a trip to get donuts. Donuts are one of my favorite sinful snacks and the girls love them too. ;)

Gotta love the frizz...

Matt took most of the day off so that we could take the girlies to lunch and then to the zoo. Pudman stayed at G-Ma's. I missed him like crazy. The night without a baby also made me realize what an awful pumper I am. My goodness do I hate pumping!

These little girlies are becoming quite the duo. The older they get, the closer they get.

 We took 'the snot' with us, but I kid you not, Sloane walked the entire zoo. 

I took a lot of pictures. I'm trying hard to learn how to use my new camera, but that thing is complicated! 

There are not very many things that make me smile more then this face with blue slushie on it.

Sloane was not about to go near this drinking fountain.

The girls loved the Merry-Go-Round. Sloane didn't want to leave it. I was so happy to see that there were two zebras right by each other. That saved us from a hair-pulling fight. (Between the sisters, not Matt and I.)

When we told Sloane is was time to leave the zoo, she set up camp in this log. She didn't want to leave. However, once I told her there would be ice cream cake, she shot up and walked straight to the car.

Holynd seemed to know EVERYTHING about the zoo. Funny that she was an expert, having never been there.

Yes, Matt. Your arms are long! We get it!

Sloane was very concerned that everyone was being so noisy. She didn't want to scare the animals. She kept telling us to, "Shhh!"

G-Ma stole the show by showing up with this birthday present. The girls are still fighting over it.

So much fun.

Love you bunchies Baloaniest.

For you.

Two years ago, Matt celebrated a very special Father's Day. His gift literally came straight from heaven.

Two years ago, Sloane came into our lives the Friday right before Father's Day. Father's Day, that year, was spent laying in bed with a brand-new baby.

Since then, Father's Day has held all new meaning for me. Where Holynd's birth had held so much uncertainty, stress and lots of prayer; Sloane's birth was simple and easy. I went a little crazy the day she was born, but I swear I had good reason. I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was sure someone was bound to say, "Oh wait. This isn't normal." But no one did. Everything was just fine.

I love my husband. He's kind of a big deal. I'm pretty sure I got the best one. Although church turned out to be down right brutal yesterday, I couldn't help but think that I still felt secure in all the chaos because of my husband. Where I'm a high-stress type person, he's laid-back and even-tempered. He's always exactly what I need. And, it doesn't hurt that our kids adore him.

Yesterday we celebrated him and today we will celebrate Sloane.

It's just never-ending fun around this house. ;)

I've been racking my brain about how I could go about describing Sloane. She's definitely one-of-a-kind. She reminds me a lot of my younger sister and if she's turns out exactly like Aunt Twitch, Matt and I will be thrilled. Sloane has a quirky sense of humor. She's always making faces, doing funny dances and laughing. Sloane has a shy side, but she can be incredibly stubborn. Yesterday, for some reason, she refused to go to nursery. This was very unlike Sloane. Since Matt and I are in primary, Sloane AND Maddox both had to tag along. Then, when the primary was short on Sunbeam teachers, we offered to take another class. 10 Sunbeams, plus Sloane, plus Maddox. It was a very trying experience. Holynd was NOT loving having Sloane in HER class. (Not at all that surprising). At one point, they were fighting over the same chair. Holynd would yell, stomp her feet and growl. "Get out of my seat Sloane!!" to which Sloane would look at her and very calmly say, "No." This just enraged her sister even more, but as they fought all I could think about was how different they really were. Sloane fits into our family so perfectly and I couldn't dream of a better sister for Holynd.  

I love you husband

and, I love you Baloanie.

I Am NOT Joking.

A child, who will remain nameless, POOPED on the floor of the garage yesterday.

Wait. Are you thinking that maybe you read that wrong?

Let me repeat myself.

ONE OF MY KIDS POOPED ON THE GARAGE FLOOR YESTERDAY.

If you think that was bad, consider this: the accident on the garage floor was the 3RD strange/disgusting mess I cleaned up yesterday. THIRD!

When Matt and I got in bed last night, I just started to laugh....

Matt: What? What's so funny?

Me: We must be awful parents. What kind of parents raise kids that think that POOPING on the floor of the garage is a good idea?!!! What kind of parents raise kids like that?!

Matt: I know! (Laughing)

Me: Oh well! (Uncontrollably laughing)

The Mice Play...

I like to workout in the mornings.

Me, my yoga mat and my weights.

(And the Today Show.)

My goal is usually to workout, shower and get dressed before Matt even leaves for work.

After a had Maddox, I tried to workout during nap time, like I used to when Holynd and Sloane were little.

That lasted a whole five minutes.

Sometimes I do really well, but somedays I just can't seem to get myself out of bed in the morning.

Because my allergies have been so bad, I've basically been in a Benedryl induced haze and it's been REALLY hard to get out of bed.

This morning, Matt left right after I finished working out.

So, I got all three kids occupied and got in the shower. I hurried and prayed that the house would still be standing when I got out.

When I went to check on Maddox, this is what I found.

Holynd was his "mommy" and Sloane was the "husband".

You can't see Sloane because she was banging a book on my head while I took these pictures.

Did you catch a glimpse of Maddox's first pair of basketball shorts?? I picked those up at Target yesterday. (Size: 12 months. Waist = WAY too big. Length = Just right.)

In Lone Peak colors, no less.

Daddy was so happy.

PS: I don't like you.

Dear Allergies,

I think I may hate you. We try not to use the "h" word in this house, but I'm at my wits end. You make me itch every where and my eyes water all the time. At the end of the day, my throat is sore from being so scratchy and my eyes can barely blink because they are so dry. I'm sick of the Benedryl I constantly have to take because it makes me drowsy. I really want to be able to go outside without having a sneezing attack. I also want to be able to take care of my garden and do yard work.

Please go away. I'm so limited on ways to treat you allergies. I'm nursing, you see. Just leave me alone.

Ok?

Thanks,

T

*

Dearest Children,

I really loved (love) nursing you all. I'm hoping maybe it gave you something a little extra.

Please know that I gave up effective treatment of my allergies in order to nurse you through the summers.

Much Love,

Mom

*

Dearest Aunt Twitch,

Thank you for watching my kids for me. They love you. Just FYI.

Hugs,

Sister

*

Dearest Husband,

I think it's safe to say that I've officially lost my mind.

Or was it already gone?

Anywho, I had fun on our Sushi-In-The-Car Lunch Date today.

XOXOXXOOXX,

Wife

The Luckiest.

I'll be honest.

I didn't always see myself as a stay-at-home mom.

I always thought I'd work. I wanted to graduate and I wanted a career.

While I was pregnant with Sloane, I thought a lot about what I would do after I graduated. I finally just decided that I would do what felt right.

Somedays I'm just a filthy as my kids are at the end of the day.

Today, Sloane walked right up to me and wiped her nose on my pant leg.

Yesterday I spent most of the morning cleaning up a broken casserole dish.

Just an hour ago, I got to clean up the toilet mess after Holynd clogged it with Clorox wipes.

And, I always wonder what people are thinking while they watch me trying to wrangle three kids into the grocery store. I'm sure I look ridiculous yelling at Holynd and Sloane while carrying Maddox on my hip.

A couple of weeks ago, I realized that the thoughts of working outside the home didn't even cross my mind anymore. I found myself wondering why that is. Why, with all the hardships, do I stay at home?

Because.

Because all of these little experiences I get to have with these little beings.

Sometimes, on the hard days. The days when no one listened. The days when everyone cried all day long and Holynd and Sloane fought constantly. The days when a certain child REFUSES to use the potty and the other two don't want to go to bed at night - I look at pictures that I've taken.

And I wonder how I would feel if I wasn't the one being used as a tissue. Or the one cleaning up the bathroom floor for the 10th time that day!

I'd really miss the afternoons I get to spend with Maddox while the sisters are napping.

I can never get enough of those spit bubbles.

I would've missed the day that Holynd decided she wanted to "sleep out under the stars".... in the middle of the day.... on the driveway...

I don't think my life would've been complete without watching Holynd putting a bib on Sloane and feeding her like a baby. "You're still a baby Sloane. You should eat like Maddox!"

How many smiles would I miss?

Lately, I get asked a lot what it's like to have three.

It wasn't as big of a transition as it was bringing Sloane home. Bringing home the second baby was hard just because I had to learn how to split my time. There was more guilt with the second. However, the third child feels like I've graduated into "real" mother mode. I don't see myself as a "new" mom. Now that I've got three, I feel like I'm supposed to know what I'm doing.

I don't. Believe me.

But I do know that I'm pretty lucky to get to stay here with these babies all day.

Toilet messes and all.

"Big" is an Understatement

We've kept busy this summer.

Who doesn't?

Anywho, here are some random pictures of what we've been up to. We've had a lot of fun, but I'm not going to lie, sometimes my favorite thing to do is just stay home and let the kids play in the yard.

Maddox hates the water. Just like Mommy. ;)

If you haven't heard (see below) Holynd gets a Popsicle when she, a-hem, poops in the potty. I keep wondering when we'll be able to quit giving rewards for being potty-trained. Probably never. I've learned one thing, potty training isn't going to end for YEARS. YEARS!

Maddox loves food. I'm really surprised at how well he tolerates them. No tummy aches, nothing. He still hates the sweet stuff, which bums me out because I love the Ella's Kitchen baby food - but all the options seem to be sweet. When Holynd was little, she refuses to crawl on both knees. She always did this bum-scoot manuver to get to where she wanted to go. Well, Maddox hates laying on his tummy, so instead of army-crawling, he lays on his back and pushes with his legs to get around.

As we started to play and play, I realized that something was missing.

I wanted to be able to take the kids on walks.

My kids LOVE to ride in the stroller. Always have. Sloane basically spent the first three months of her life in "The Snot" (our green Jeep double-stroller) because I walked with friends every morning the summer after she was born. Actually, I pretty much walked myself right into labor and then just continued on after she was here. ;)

I had shopped for a stroller while I was pregnant with Maddox. One that would accommodate all three babies, but oh my gosh! How frustrating! People hated these strollers! There wasn't one three kid stroller that had all decent reviews. I searched for weeks and finally came upon a review that really made me realized what I was getting into. The reviewer said, "I don't know why everyone is being so hard on these strollers. You're asking for a stroller that can hold three kids, but works like a single stroller. It's just NOT going to happen!"

I quit looking after that. I just decided that if the need came up, I'd get one.

About a week or two ago, Holynd pleaded to go on a walk. "I'll push Maddox, mommy! Please, just take us on a walk!"

Sure. We loaded Sloane up in "The Snot" and Holynd pushed Maddox in one of our spare umbrella strollers.

Now, Matt and I live on the bottom of the a loop. Either way we walk, we're going up hill. Holynd tolerated the hill pretty well, but when we got a good distance away from home, she quit.

"I want to ride!"

Yay.

I then proceeded to try and walk two strollers home at the same time. Not happening!

So, I then decided that I would have to push one stroller a short distance, then go back for the other stroller, push it the same distance, switch strollers and so on....

It took us a good long time to get home.

Fed up, I decided we really did need a three kid stroller.

I ended up at Buy Buy Baby one day. They had all sorts of strollers, but they did not have any that held three kids. When I asked for help, the sales lady told me that they didn't keep them on the floor, but she could order one in for us. She immediately recommended the Joovy Big Caboose. "People always seem to go for that one. In fact, a lot of people will bring their first choice back and get that one instead. They always end up keeping the Joovy."

Convinced I hopped on Amazon that night.

It was at my door three days later.

When it showed up, Holynd kept shouting,"Oh mommy! Does it have a Holynd seat, a Sloanie seat AND a Maddox seat?????"

Yes. A seat for everyone.

It's huge.