Apple Orchard

We went to our first orchard of the season!

 These bouncy pillow things are the best!

 We had corn in the bath that night!  The kids thought that was pretty funny.

We're loving this fall season!

I Wanna Feed Her!

Before their baby was born, they wanted to feed her.  So this little one got a bottle much sooner than they did.  Because I kept hearing, "I wanna feed her!" 

 So they did.

Maisy found it very hard to get her milk from a moving target.  But somehow they managed to empty that bottle. 

L is for.....

 L is for Ladybug.

T is for Tired Preschooler.

Family of 5

We're working on getting this family of 5 thing figured out...

 

We have learned how to travel in and out of the car pretty well with all of us. 

One-on-one time it a bit tricky yet, but we're pretty efficient at two-on-one.  Mommy does a much better job of read alouds, but the kids are learning to enjoy Daddy's reading style. 

And we've figured out how to fit in exercise time....group push ups!

The Tumbler

We decided to sign Mara up for tumbling.  I wasn't sure she'd have the attention span or interest to do dance, but she enjoyed the short tumbling sessions she did in Waukee a year ago.  She's loving it so far.  I finally got her the appropriate dress attire for class.  They have been practicing cartwheels in class, and she gets a bit frustrated at home when she practices.  Not sure how quickly the other kids get the hang of this fairly tricky move, but hopefully she doesn't get too frustrated with it. 

Lance's 35th Birthday

We decided to start celebrating Lance's birthday a day early.  It was actually the kids' idea.  Probably just a good way to talk us into s'mores.  It worked.

 

 

We typically go all out for birthdays.  Balloons, streamers, posters, special meals, presents, maybe dinner out, and anything else we can come up with.  However, Maisy had a rough night the night before Lance's birthday.  She was up every 1-2 hours crying and just restless in between.  Neither of us got much sleep.  So his birthday wasn't really a whole lot of fun for anyone.  I attempted to make gluten free cinnamon roll muffins (which I've made before and are pretty tasty!), but I was short a couple of ingredients.  I substituted a couple things, and they turned out terrible.  The kids still thought they were great.  Since I was the one who got up all night with Maisy, I took advantage of a couple hours of sleep that morning.  So Lance got to celebrate his birthday with three kiddos all by himself.  He does love his kids and wanted to spend his birthday with them, but probably not all alone for a couple hours.  But that's why I love him so much.  He's very selfless. 

Our evening was much more fun celebrating with family.  We headed over to his parents house for some pizza and cake and ice cream.

 

 

Happy 35th birthday, Dad! 

 

 

 

 

 

Maisy - 1 month

She is eating every 2-3 hours during the day.  Still sleeping quite a bit during the day but very attentive when awake.  We had a couple rough nights where she was only sleeping 1-2 hours and very restless throughout the night.  I finally decided to move her from our room to her own room along with some white noise, and she's been much better ever since.  She's been going 5-6 hours between feedings at night and then she'll sleep another 3 hours after that.  This momma is loving that!  She poops all the time.  Much more than I remember the other two doing.

 She enjoys baths for the most part, but sometimes this pouty face comes out.  Mara LOVES to help with her baths.  Sometimes we forget to give her baths, and I can't even remember how many days it's been since she's had one.  It's not like I forget for an entire week, but there's so much going on around here that I honestly can't recall what day she last had a bath.  And so it goes with the third kid. 

 I think she definitely looks like Mara with her eyes closed but definitely less with her eyes open.  Her eyes are already getting dark, so I'm guessing they're going to be brown.

 I don't have very many pictures with the other two kids, but this girl will definitely have even less.  Guess I'll have to keep sneaking in some selfies with her!  She's definitely developing some serious cheeks!  I didn't realize it until I looked at a picture of her.  I guess I get so used to it being with her everyday.  Maybe I'll finally get a chunky baby!

 No swaddle and taking full advantage of it!

 Helping out with tummy time!

Secretly, I really wanted Mara to have a sister.  They'll be just a bit closer in age than my sister and me.  I pray that they'll always be close and have a special relationship.  Not that Maisy really has a choice at this point, but Mara already has a very special bond with her.  She has been much more of a leader and helper than I thought she'd be. 

 This girl will be in a Bumbo seat before long.  Her head control and strength amazes me!  At her two week appointment, the doctor thought we had already been doing tummy time by looking at how well she was controlling her head.  I guess there is a lot of action around here, and she doesn't want to miss anything!

 How quickly things change around here.  Maisy, you've only been apart of our family outside my womb for a month, but it seems like you've been around for a year.  I can't wait to see you grow into the special little girl God created you to be.  We love you!

Maisy - Newborn Pictures

So I'm a bit behind.....  Maisy was a month old yesterday.  She has changed so much from when these newborn pictures that were taken when she was just a few days old. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clara the Pony

Mara has been wanting to ride a horse for a long time.  We just haven't really had a good opportunity for her to do this.  Last year there were supposed to be horse rides at a fall party we went to, but it ended up storming.  We've had the opportunity to let her ride on the ponies that just walk around in a circle, but I was not about to pay for her to do that.  If she was going to ride a horse, I thought it needed to be a real ride.  I guess I said that a few too many times......



 Because Grandma got her grandkids a real pony!  Meet Clara.

Clara came from a home with lots of kiddos, so she just does whatever the kids want her to do.  She'll walk, trot and follow slowly behind someone leading her.  They love her.  I'm looking forward to many memories with Clara and the kids.  Thanks Grandma J!

Preschooler

A couple weeks ago, we all went to Mara's open house at preschool.  She was super pumped!  She got to meet her teachers, check out her room and drop off her school supplies.

 

Micah also enjoyed the open house and is still pretty bummed he doesn't get to go every week.

She enjoyed her first day and was upset when she had to leave.  Some kids were crying when they got dropped off and she was crying when she had to go home.  I tried not to take offense to that!  She is making new friends and loves the independence.  I love to hear all about her afternoon when we pick her up. 

Maisy Marie

My parents decided to bring their camper down to our house and camp in our driveway for a night or two.  Our kids LOVE camping.  Their evening was complete with glow sticks and sleeping in the bunk beds in the camper.   

 This was 9 days before my due date, but at 3:30 AM I started having contractions.  I had been having very light contractions everyday for about a month, but I knew these were the real thing.  About 7:30 AM, my mom texted me and asked if I could believe the kids were both still sleeping in the camper.  I texted her back and said I'd believe it as long as she would believe I was in labor!  The contractions got harder and closer together throughout the morning, but we couldn't head to the hospital without a camping breakfast of pancakes and bacon cooked right in our driveway!  I was making my dad a bit nervous, so we finally headed to the hospital around 9:00 AM.  I told Lance if I wasn't dilated more than 6 cm, I was going to get en epidural.  The nurse informed me I was dilated to a 6 or 7.  Really?  That didn't make my decision easy.  I explained to the nurse that I had preferred the no epidural birthing experience with Micah, but I'm definitely a wimp!  She asked if I wanted her to say I didn't have a choice, so I said yes.  There were only a few seconds I highly regretted that decision!  But if I had the choice again, I'd choose no epidural.  Those two moments (physically pushing out my babies without pain medication) made me feel like Super Woman.  Seriously. 

 Our perfect little girl arrived at 11:42 AM.  This is her first photograph.  She was completely purple.  Neither of our other two were.  Lance got to cut the umbilical cord from me for the first time.  With the other two, the doctor cut it and Lance got to trim it from the baby later. 

 The nurse informed us that her head was bruised.  Probably from the quick exit!  She said it was nothing to worry about and the purple color should go away in a couple days.  It was actually much better a few hours later, but you can see the color difference in this picture.

 This is bad, but the first thing I noticed in this picture wasn't the baby.  It was the bald spot on Lance's head!  And he thinks he's too old to have another baby.... 

 This girly came out ready to eat!  She was sucking on anything she could get her mouth on!

Big Sis and Big Bro came after naps.  Micah wasn't too interested at first, but Mara couldn't get enough of her. 

 

 

 

 

 

 The brave nurse told the kids to put their gloves on and they could help with Maisy's first bath!

 

See...she really couldn't get enough of her, toes and all!

We decided to stay the full two days this birth.  We left a day early with Micah and ended up in the ER the next night.  Plus, it's pretty nice to be waited on at all hours of the day and night and not have to make any meals!  So we took full advantage of it. 

And then we strapped her in and headed home...hoping we were prepared for the chaos that was about to begin...and continue for quite a few years!