Reminders

There are reminders all over the place when I open my eyes to see. I was reminded this week, while at a friends house, that couches don't always have to stay as a couch. They can be a leaping pad to a whole night of adventure. Last Friday night we tore the cushions off the couch and set up our own little Friday fun nite. It takes this grown up a long time to have brillant ideas and remember that as a child I once built forts and all kinds of things with the cushions of our family couch.

Body Language

Lucius' 3 month update

storytime

The scene at our house this morning.

Make a mess Monday

Letting the fun out weight the mess...

Step one: Tear open the Rice Krispies Box.

Step Two: Let Marmee melt the butter and marshmallows.

Step three: Dump out the Rice Krispies and sprinkle a cup on the floor for good measure.

Step four: Mix it up
Step Five: Make sure to lick the mixing spoon clean.

Step Six: Taste test the bars before sharing one with Daddy.

(Have a "Make a Mess Monday" suggestion? Leave a comment and Oliver and I will try to put it into practice. We'd love to hear your ideas)

Excited... puppies... and Fun

Oliver jumped in the car this morning and said "excited go to Oma's house". He's been talking about/ asking to go to Oma's house almost every time we get into the car.

There was a litter of little tiny puppies that Oliver was enjoying watching and touching. Lucius even snuggled with the three puppies momentarily. (Oma's mighty talented)

We had a yummy lunch, in fact Oliver probably had more food today then I eat in two days. Let's just say, Oma's cupboards are stocked with lots of snacks and yummy goodness.

I offered Oliver the choice of taking a nap or staying awake. He chose not, instead we went for a walk to burn a few calories. I knew he would sleep in the car if he didn't nap, so I was more than happy to allow his decision. Plus that meant more time with Oma and Aunt Dana.

The first words out of Oliver's mouth as we were pulling out of the driveway was "bye Oma's house... fun day" "fun long walk" and a few other incomprehensible sentences about drinking, marmee's lap, and little puppies. He was out cold four minutes after departure.

Who needs a double stroller?

Lucius is bundled up to high heaven in the seat of the BOB stroller we own and Oliver is sitting on the footrest part. He rode all the way home there while eating his graham cracker. Good thing the BOB holds up to 70 pounds.

Outside

We can walk outside again without a coat on and enjoy our family's "great room": the great outdoors. Hip hip hooray for a sunny (warm) day!

I call it "Picnic Breakfast"

I believe I've probably already mention how FANTASTIC my Mister misters are, but maybe I haven't told you how lazy, tired and not a morning person I am. Well, here's a story all about the that.

6:45am: Oliver wakes up. I tell him to please play in his room so I can go back to sleep
7:30am: Lucius wakes up and Oliver's yelling about wanting breakfast. I tell him "5 minutes and I'll get you picnic breakfast". He knows what this is because sadly- it's not the first time I've used it to get more sleep. While feeding Lucius I hear Oliver picking up saying to himself "Good job, buddy... great job... Marmee get orange bowl... good job cleaning up"
7:40am: Oliver's sitting down to his Picnic Breakfast (dry cereal) in an orange bowl. Lucius is playing with toys and watching his mobile.
8:03am: Everyone is wanting me to finally get out of bed, so I stumble into the shower to complete my wake up. Good morning world, here I come.

Musical rooms: the office

The key piece to the Boys musical rooms was to get Jerimy's office out of the third bedroom. The middle of February Jerimy started building a room in our unfinished basement. He got help from a few good friends to haul the wood home and hang sheet rock. Uncle Scott came down to tape and mud the walls. Jerimy painted and I helped place/attach the built-in bookcases. Then he laid down the floor tiles. I get to make a curtain for the window eventually.

He's been working in his new office for a while now and seems to be a lot more productive, since Oliver's a lot less likely to interupt him. I am super excited about the little reading nook that was created. I know its his office but its nice to know that, if needed, I could get away to read or knit once in a while. Now I just have to clean up the rest of the basement.

caught on film

Its been a busy week so far.
Monday... well I've already blogged about Monday.
Tuesday: Auntie Em wrote about Tuesday. (to read more click here)
Wednesday: Oliver and Daddy met Grandpa Gale and Uncle Jason at Como Zoo. Lucius stayed home with me to work on his quilt. (to read more click here)

at final count

Lucius slept two and a half hours (11:30 till 2pm), thanks to Brianna's hypnotic presence. Brianna slept a total of two and a half hours (12:15 till 2:45pm). Here they are at the end of their little cat nap this afternoon: Lucius was waking up and started snuggling into his cousin.
And Oliver wanted to join in the after nap fun... What can I say, I'm a sucker for his cuteness ("see babies?").

Highlights

Early this morning I set Lucius down on his stomach and in less than 5 minutes I witnessed him Roll over onto his back. Oh my goodness!

Yesterday, Oliver and Lucius were jumping together (similar to this video- but I couldn't take one at the time because I was holding Lucius up to jump) and I asked Oliver if he wanted to hold Lucius' hand. He grabbed right on and continued jumping with Lucius. It was so precious. Oliver usually ignores his baby brother for the most part, since all he really has been doing is sleeping, eating and pooping.

This morning I was taking photos. Oliver wanted to climb up to sit next to Lucius AND wanted to hold his hand again!

Cuddle time is ALWAYS a highlight of my day and Lucius is REALLY good at it. Oliver cuddles pretty well when there's stories to be read.

So NOT having another kid

I had already decided back toward the end of my pregnancy with Lucius that I was done having kids. I'm plenty ecstatic about the two wonderful boys I have and as parents we don't wish to be outnumbered. Much easier saying "you got this one, I'll take that one" when we go out somewhere. Or if alone one child per hand fits nicely.

Today, as a added confirmation I've made a good decision about my family's child count, Brianna came for a visit. She's been here since 8:30am and will be visiting till about 3:30pm- when her mother arrives to pick her up. It's been a juggling act to say the least. Luckily Lucius and Brianna are on slightly different feeding schedules, and they've both been napping on and off throughout the day.

Currently, everyone is napping. Oliver, Lucius and Brianna are peacefully deep in slumber. Ahh, I can handle this. Honestly it hasn't really been as bad as I was expecting, but I doubt I could do three of my own kids on a day to day basis. If you're a mother of three or more I say "you are wonderful, gifted and fantastically AMAZING!"

Update:
It's now been an hour and a half since I posted two blogs. I was able to check everyone's blogs and my emails while all the children here are still out cold. Lucius briefly woke for maybe 5 minutes and then proceeded to slumber again. I guess sharing his crib with Brianna has great benefits. Maybe it's her snoring that's entranced him into a longer REM sleep. Usually he'll only nap for about 45 minutes during the day. Thanks Brianna.

Ps. I almost forgot this cute little story. Oliver was eating Lunch when Brianna awoke hungry. She was starting to cry and Oliver turned his head to shout up the stairs "Hush, hush, hush Brianna. Oliver's trying to eat!"

Whoa, hold your horses

Lucius has been sleeping a consistent 6 to 7 hours during the night for the past couple of weeks. Last night, in his first ever "out of the bassinet" crib experience he slept a total of 8 and one half hours! The first time Oliver did that he was one month old... we do realize that we are completely and utterly spoiled.

Also, today Lucius is wearing a onesie that Oliver wore at seven months- how crazy is that?

(I bought Lucius a new hat today- it was so super fantastically adorable I couldn't resist. AND yes I have counted: Lucius only has one head but owns 13-17 hats of varies colors, sizes and styles)

Musical rooms

Uffda... we had a busy week shuffling things and people from room to room.

I was able to get the front rail back on the crib early this morning so that Lucius could nap and play in it throughout the day. I also found the mobile from when Oliver was little. I almost forgot we had one. Lucius will be sleeping in the nursery tonight, and we have our room all to ourselves again.

Oliver moved into his new bedroom. Last night was the first night sleeping in a new environment. It was quite interesting for us, as parents, because there is no baby monitor in the new room. Daddy was nervous Oliver might fall off the bed so we put cushions down, just in case. I think Jerimy heard Oliver wake up sometime during the night a he went to check on him, I slept through it- usually its exactly the opposite.

Its going to be a wonderful new adventure, everyone is growing up so fast.

(Auntie Em came over and helped Marmee put all these wall stickers on the walls. Duelling castles complete with a wedding photo turned into a "knights round table". We had a whole story going as to which sticker should go where. Come over to visit Oliver in his new room and we'll tell you the whole tale.)

Preparing for a new cousin

So Brianna and I have to do EVERYTHING around here to prepare for our newest cousin. We wanted to celebrate with family and friends. A baby shower was in order. After making a list, it was off to the grocery store for supplies. Brianna, did you remember the coupons?We spent the following evening making the tart shells in advance, which was a lot of work but will pay off to see Auntie Micks smile. While the tarts were cooling, Brianna and I decided to talk games and decorations.

The day of the party: Brianna sets a mean table and the food looked fabulously Delicious. I helped organize the games and carried all the presents downstairs. Don't look too closely, I think Brianna and I are actually sleeping thru the gift opening in an attempt not to get green with envy from all the fun things people gave to our new cousin. You try putting together the event of a lifetime and not be a little bit tired.

Thanks Brianna, couldn't have done it without you. Can't wait to meet our newest cousin.