Cleaning and scrubbing will wait ’till tomorrow, but children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs! Dust go to sleep! I’m rocking my baby. Babies don’t keep. – Ruth Hamilton

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Our babysitter explored again with our babies! I am so thankful to have these pictures taken.




He really loves having Lincoln around!






He has changed so much since this first week.  She wants to take more of him to practice and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Sprouts!

Every year since we have moved into our house we have attempted a garden. We have only had luck for one of those years! Last year it wasn't good because we left for Italy for two weeks and it was really hot. This year we are trying a new approach to get the kids involved.  On one of our outings we picked up seeds, planting soil and containers to grow the seeds in.  Here is what it all looked like... 
Not only is this a great activity for the kids, but we are hoping to save a ton of money!
Avery knew when the table cloth came out there was going to be an activity-I found her ready to go in her chair.

We started by letting them decorate the planters-it took awhile to get Mack involved...


but he got there!

It was nice and messy and I loved seeing their little hands get into the dirt.  Some might have a lot of seeds in one container, but it's all worth it.
Since I hate clutter I was worried about where to put the seeds while they grow.  We decided to use the big window upstairs right outside their rooms.  Mark got out our card table and we (my mom) found this table cloth for a dollar at Target.
Within two days we had a few sprouts!  I couldn't believe it and the kids love to show people when they come over.

Through pictures Avery and Mack can see how this process works.  Now we will water and care for our garden and hope to have produce to plant come May. 

I have to remember we are only in March because this weather makes you want to get things going outside, but I don't want to plant too early and have it fail.  Getting them involved has been a fun learning experience this week and the weeks to come.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Little Helpers For Little Brother

It never gets old having a first!  Lincoln had his first bath this week and Avery and Mack were thrilled to help with the big event. He loved the warmth of the bath and the attention from his siblings.







These little helpers are great with their brother!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Good Times Again

After having a baby you begin to feel a little trapped in your house. Since this is our third, we have made a huge effort to have as many people over to fill our time. Last weekend we had a little time out together-without kids. Thank goodness for our friends Mike and Celine who also met us for Mexican (actually I just wanted a margarita!) this past week and we have got some great patio time with others.

This past Saturday we had Mark's brothers and family over. It was nice to have adult interaction and great to have extra hands around.  It made Mark and I feel better and we both blew off a little steam through great conversations.  Thank you Watsons!

These three are really close in age.  Avery and Cohan get along great, but Mack and Cohan have some tension-not sure why.  You can really see it in this picture above...
No fear though put some corn on the cob in front of them and you will get a few moments of piece-until Mack loses it and had a huge fit during dinner!


Avery and Cohan stayed up late together and it was really fun to see them play together without any fights.  Cohan was also VERY interested in Lincoln.  These were some cure shots!


Come over anytime...please!!!!

Monday, March 19, 2012

They're Back

My parents had booked a yearly trip before we found out we were pregnant.  It happened to be right after Lincoln was born.  It was hard for me and them to be gone right after his arrival!  But they are back and we got to spend a short amount of time with them this past weekend-this week we will get more time.  My mom came early in the morning and Avery jumped right in with working on her hair.


After a trip to Old Navy (for summer clothes) we got the water table out.  Yes, it is March and they are in swimsuits playing in water!  My dad came later in the afternoon to cook us a wonderful meal-he such an amazing and inventive cook!







It is going to be an interesting summer if we are already outside like this.  They're back and now we have our entire family helping us out!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Update!

Our babysitter called in sick today, so it's the first day we are on our own...luckily Mark came home and took Avery and Mack to work for a little while.  It wouldn't be a big deal if I was able to lift them out of their beds and other things! 

I have a few seconds before little Lincoln needs to eat again.

It has been a whirlwind lately and we are surviving.  We know this will be a short part of our lives and we will miss this (or we think).  The kids are all adjusting to our new life-we even ventured out last night to dinner with some friends and they all did amazing.  It was nice to know we can still go out in public.  It just takes a little longer to get out of the car-speaking of cars, we had to get a second car that was big enough for all of them and strollers.  Now Lincoln is in the middle of the other two and Mack really likes to "help" when he gets upset (this is not always very helpful).  They will get used to it, we just can't leave them alone.

We took Lincoln in for his two week appointment and everything was great.  He is past his birth weight at 8 lbs 11 oz. and grew a half inch.  He is nursing much better now and we have really got into a schedule-as much as you can with a two week old.  He does like to eat!  Our night times have been okay so far.  At first it was every two hours, but the last couple of nights he has only gotten up at 2:00 and 6:00-ate and fell back asleep.  This made me nervous for my milk supply, but he is getting bigger and is happy during the day.  Mark and I were talking how easy it has been this time to have him in our room.  With the other two we were anxious to get our room back, but not this time.  I love his snuggles and I know it will go too fast, so I plan on keeping him with us for a long time:).  It is our last little bundle and I'm going to embrace this precious time.  Overall, he is the most amazing baby and very laid back!


Mack also went with us to the appointment for his 18 month checkup.  Everything was great with him as well.  He is a big boy!  I thought it was his weight that was big, but he is actually skinny for his height.  He is the 90% for height and already weighs 29 LBS.  He has learned to use his body very well.  His favorite thing to do is to puff up his chest and chase other kids around...as long as it doesn't result in hitting, we think it's pretty funny.  Speaking of funny, he has learned that he can make people laugh!  He amuses us everyday (when he isn't mad at something) I think he is so funny and fun to watch.  He did however have an ear infection and fluid on the other ear, so that would explain some of the crankiness.  This little boy will always keep us on our toes and I hope he never changes.



Avery didn't have an appointment, but I want to add information about her to keep everything updated.  Did I mention I had my entire blog published?  It came in a hard covered book-what a better way to document their little lives.  Much better than any baby book I could put together.  Anyway...I was a little worried with Avery because she was being very quite and not wanting to do much since we got home.  This week she has really come out of her shell and has been back to her little cute self.  She helps a lot with Lincoln and it is really helpful!  We give him his baths and she helps change his diaper.  She has also had some alone time.  This Monday when we were at the doctor, Nanny took her to get her nails done, ate lunch out, and got to go to the store and pick out some fun toys.  That was really good for her and she has loved her time with her grandmother.  Today Mark came back in the house asking what black stuff she had packed in her bag...I had no idea!  When I came outside I saw this... 


It was mascara!  We will learn to check what she leaves with :)  

They all are very different and what fun it is to watch!