Saturday, January 27, 2018

Photo Every Hour: January 21st

7:00 See that face? He's saying "Don't pretend like 7:00 was when you got up for the day Mom. I had you up plenty of times before seven"

8:00 Breakfast win: Leftover (homemade!) biscuits and gravy from Saturday, plus leftover bacon from Saturday night since we made a recipe that only called for half a package

9:00 Day two of being in underwear for Garrett--and plenty of treats to reward him for keeping his underwear dry!

10:00 Okay, so this picture was taken closer to 10:30, but getting all three boys (and two adults) dressed up and out the door for church can get a little chaotic. For what it's worth, I was probably putting Garrett's shirt on around 10:00 if you want to imagine what that would have looked like ;-)

11:00 Don't tell Darrell, but I snuck a picture during the children's reading at church

12:00 Ugh. Want to know what is in that suitcase? Clothes for Darrell for the next three days. Because not only does he have meetings in Minneapolis Tuesday and Wednesday, but thanks to an incoming blizzard, he has to go up today so they get up there before the weather hits. Guess how thrilled I am

1:00 Yes, I'm having coffee with my lunch. I suspect I'm going to be having coffee with lots of meals--and in between--for the next few days

2:00 Apparently these boys were so excited for the game that they couldn't be bothered to take decent naps

3:00 Good thing Darrell is halfway to Minneapolis--this blizzard is out of control #theweathermanwhocalledwolf  Minneapolis got hit pretty hard Monday afternoon though--which was when they were originally planning to leave--so at least that justified them leaving early

4:00 Got the beer ready for the big game!

5:00 Watching the end of the AFC Championship game while waiting for the game that actually matters #skol

6:00 Off to a great start!

7:00 Yeah. I had to walk away from the game. Good thing these two cute little fans were upstairs playing and not in terrible spirits about the game

8:00 The body language says it all. The game was ugly

9:00 I'm not ashamed in the least to admit that I left this one sleeping in his car seat while I got the other two into bed

Early bedtime for me in preparation for three days (and three loooong nights) of being a single parent!

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Connor: Four Months!

I know this is usually the opposite of the sentiments that I have when reflecting on the previous month, but all I can really say is damn--I'm glad that month is over. And it really isn't anything specifically that Connor did (or didn't do) that makes me glad the month is over; month three to four in his life just fell during a rough time for the whole family. It was the peak of the holiday season, which--while wonderful--was super crazy busy. And then I'm not kidding when I say I was sick for at least half, if not three-quarters, of the past month. Nothing major--a random 24 hour stomach bug on Christmas Eve (awesome timing, right?) and then a bad cold that has taken forever to shake (which is unlike me, but I'm convinced that nursing and interrupted nighttime sleep is dragging the cold out for longer than it would have lasted otherwise)--but enough to be majorly annoying. Anyway. Enough complaining. It may have been a rough and crazy month, but Connor was still pretty darn awesome through it all. Especially given all the traveling we put him through over the holidays.
Height/Weight: Per his four-month checkup, Connor was 15lbs, 4oz. Definitely a substantial drop on the percentile scale (he had been in the seventies and dropped to the forties), but he's right on par for where his brothers were, so we really aren't concerned (and neither is our pediatrician, which I suppose is the more important opinion). He was up to twenty-five and a half inches, which is just slightly taller than his brothers were at this age.

Wearing: Despite being almost identical in height and weight to his brothers at four months, I am convinced that he seems bigger. And while the scale may not agree that he is bigger, at the very least he carries his weight differently, as evidenced by the clothes and diapers he is wearing. I think the day of his four-month checkup was his last full day in size two diapers, which William wore into five months and Garrett transitioned out of a few weeks after turning four months old. And while I still have exclusively six month clothing in his closet, I find myself rotating through the same eight outfits because the majority of stuff in that size is too small (and I haven't had time to get out the nine month clothing). William was still wearing a few three month outfits at four months, and Garrett didn't start outgrowing his six month clothing until five months.

Eating: Maybe I'm a little naïve since his weight did drop nearly thirty percentile points, but it seems like his nursing is still going perfectly smoothly. Like his brothers, he gets down to business and is done pretty quickly (usually around five minutes per session during the day and a little longer at night), although like Garrett he is also starting to get more easily distracted while he nurses. Although all of our traveling--and subsequently different nursing locations--during the past month probably contributed to that.

Sleeping: Like I've mentioned a few times, we were away from home quite a bit in the past month. In fact, from December 18th to January 3rd, the longest stretch of us sleeping (overnight) at the same location was four nights--and that four night stretch wasn't even at our own house. And honestly, even with the traveling and multitude of pack-n-plays that he slept in, I think I struggled more with nighttime sleep than he did (#ihatebeingsick). Other than the fact that I am seriously ready for him to start stringing his constant daytime (cat-)napping into two or three longer naps, I don't remember any major complaints regarding his sleeping habits--and I'm not even going to attempt to piece together a "normal" sleeping routine for him at this age since there was nothing normal about the past month.

New Stuff: The obvious? His first Christmas. Meeting the majority of both mine and Darrell's extended families. First plane trip (#rockstar on that, by the way). First visit to the lake cabin with my family to celebrate Christmas. The less obvious? Mastering rolling from tummy to back, although after two days of doing it pretty consistently, he realized that he was still "stuck" after rolling, and has since occupied himself by spinning while doing tummy time. I'm not kidding when I say he has spun himself in a full circle on more than one occasion (it's a wonder his weight isn't higher, right? #not #heneverstopsmoving). He also requires an outfit change at least once a day thanks to his drool (and the fact that EVERYTHING he can get his hands on goes into his mouth)--we've had lots of people ask us if he is teething already, but we suspect this is just a fun hereditary trait (William was really bad around this age as well, and apparently Darrell drooled constantly from the day he was born).

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Photo Every Hour: December 21st

7:00 Yes, it's the week before Christmas and yes, my boys are watching "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving". There are worse problems to have, right?

8:00 Darrell is home since we're starting our Christmas travels today, which means I can enjoy my shower without having to worry about what kind of shenanigans the boys are getting into (or without getting up at the crack of dawn to take it before Darrell leaves for work)

9:00 I swear, we're only going to be gone for six days #travelingwithkids #minivanforthewin

10:00 After a quick stop to pick up a few last Christmas presents, we're on the road. And two of the three promptly fell asleep

11:00 First pit stop of the day

12:00 Look at these fun travel conditions! We had originally planned to leave Sioux Falls around this time, but the weather changed our plans. Thankfully we didn't need nearly as much extra time as we gave ourselves, but better safe than sorry

1:00 Lunch stop (we may or may not know all the restaurants with play places between here and Minneapolis)

2:00 On the road again (and yes, we did spend an hour at McDonalds to let the boys play at stretch their legs)

3:00 Ah, Minneapolis. Thanks for the traffic so we could be sure to slow down and really enjoy our drive through you #not

4:00 At my aunt and uncle's house just outside of Minneapolis. I'm pretty sure William looks forward to going to their house only for the train set, but whatever. It got him excited to get on the road this morning (so excited, in fact, that he wanted us to take two cars so that he didn't have to "waste" time stopping at the toy store) and it made him listen really well whenever it was time to leave our stops (although we did have to convince him to stop in the first place--he kept insisting that we didn't need lunch or didn't need to use the potty because we just needed to get to Tom and Rose's house).

5:00 William may get excited to go to Tom and Rose's for the trains, but I get excited for the food. Rose always spoils us with an extravagant meal whenever we are there (and this is the Rose of the famous sticky rolls, so you know the food is always top-notch)
6:00 Too busy stuffing my face with food to remember to take a picture #sorrynotsorry

7:00 The aftermath #stuffed

8:00 Of course, there's always room for an ice pop

9:00 Bedtime for my boys--and apparently bedtime for these big kids as well. So technically, Tom and Rose are my great aunt and uncle. And these are their grandchildren, which makes them I have no idea what to me. They're family, which is all that matters. Family that I am so grateful to have in my (and my boys') life--I remember when all these kids were born, and now they are in middle school and high school and get to play with my boys like I used to play with them--when they aren't sleeping or on their phones, of course!

10:00 A full day of travel tomorrow to get to Atlanta requires prep the night before, especially when our flight is over lunch time!

11:00 Time for us to head to bed (although I'm certain we don't look as cute sleeping as Connor does!)

Friday, January 5, 2018

Photo Every Hour: November 21st

(So apparently this post falls into the category of #mombrain--I typed it all up just after Thanksgiving but apparently never actually hit publish. No idea why--guess it's a good thing I'm super delayed getting my December post up so they can at least still go in order!)

You might be a parent if this is considered sleeping in (tis the season for crazy schedules and unusual sleeping habits!)

8:00 Not a bad morning view if I do say so myself

9:00 Keeping each other entertained so I can get dinner in the crock pot

10:00 The air temperature is 18 degrees and it feels like 4 degrees with the windchill, but these boys won't be convinced that it's too cold to go outside and play golf #dedicated #theylastedtenminutes

11:00 Momma's rock star doing some reading during tummy time

12:00 Squeezing in a few more minutes of play time before going down for naps

1:00 A few minutes of peace and quiet for Mom means lunch and mindless scrolling through Facebook

2:00 Somebody thinks he needs Momma cuddles in order to nap... And since I know how short-lived this phase will be I'm happy to oblige (especially since his brothers are still sleeping/resting)

3:00 Lack of preparation on Momma's part means a quick grocery store run right after naps (at least as "quick" as you can go with three kids four and under)

4:00 Doughnuts--My secret weapon for getting through the grocery store quickly #briberyatitsfinest #noshame

5:00 Just to prove that he isn't always perfect and happy--although he is still super cute when he's angry #imightbebiased

6:00 A late dinner for three since Daddy is working late and Mommy is juggling all three kids

7:00 Bath time x3 # weneedabiggerbathroom

8:00 Daddy made it home in time to put the older two to bed, so I'm on cleanup duty. Not sure which one of us got the shorter straw...

9:00 Doing the budget and drinking wine--because I can't do one without the other

10:00 Celebrating that Darrell will (hopefully!) be done traveling for work a few months with some wine, cuddles, and NCIS

Bedtime!