Confessions of a Chocoholic

Last night Craig was holding little Caroline. He looked down at her and noticed a huge gob of brown something all over her jammie collar and neck. We were obviously alarmed fearing what all parents of small children would fear....you fill in the blanks. He gave her a sniff and was shocked to realize it was actually chocolate.

I laughed and didn't say anything....because I knew the truth. In the midst of two very sick children, constantly nursing and changing a new baby, and trying somehow to feed, clothe, and keep all these people and myself alive, I sometimes boost with a handful of chocolate chips--darn those giant costco bags!! One must have fallen on her some time and melted in her neck. Chubby little babies can hide all kinds of goodies in their double and sometimes triple chins. Oh I laughed, and laughed, and laughed as I bathed her. She obviously enjoyed her chocolate encounter as well! Poor girl is certainly predisposed to this horrible disease I suffer from:)

Doesn't she have the best smile:) There is not a better feeling in the world than seeing your child smile.

Family 5K

We survived our first family 5k! I pushed baby Caroline and Craig pushed Ethan and Elizabeth. It was great! I am glad we had been running before so it wasn't too much of a shock:)

There was even a kids dash afterwards and Ethan won for his age group! He has always loved to run. When he was smaller we use to take him to the mall so he could "go running" and let him run up and down the big department store wings. The sad thing is neither of us saw him run his race! I was at the start but there were so many people there that I didn't make it to the end and a friend told us that he had won...so we are not sure if he did  for sure since the picture Craig snapped looked like he was behind. But he came home with a gold medal...so we assume he won. Either way, we are very proud of him! Now when he runs away from me at the park, grocery store, down the street, or wherever we happen to be I can take comfort in the fact that he is faster than more than just me!

Two months old with a new blanket!

Now that she is two months old, I have finally finished miss Caroline's baby blanket!

 

To my credit I bought the fabric before she was born but didn't even start cutting until after she was born. It became my therapy quilt. Every time in the last two months I needed a moment to myself I worked on her quilt. I can't believe how relaxing and enjoyable it was to put together! Since we didn't find out if Caroline was going to be a boy or girl this is my version of a "gender neutral quilt" I love the bright summer colors since she was born in July--during the hottest week of this year! I hand quilted and tied the quilt just for fun. I thought of my Grandma Rose while I made it. She still makes beautiful quilts and quilts them all by hand. It's almost a lost art. It inspired me to go back and look at my quilts from her and just appreciate them a little more:) When I worked at the Springville Museum of Fine Art we had a quilt show and I was surprised at how few were hand quilted! Anyway....I enjoy quilts...and just art in general:)

This pretty girl also survived her two month shots yesterday. She was a trooper, but I still think it hurts Mama more than baby. While the nurse was giving her shot she pointed out that she looks like me! The first person to say it (besides my own mother of course) It warmed my little mommy heart:) I guess when she is unhappy and in pain we have a similar look...hmmmm....

Our three little amigos

Can you believe how cute these kids are? It's extra easy for me to say that, they are all sound asleep right now:) Oh the fun we have at our house...

 Ethan has started Joy School this fall. He loves it to say the least, I knew he would. He enjoys the three other little boys he gets to play and learn with. Joy School is a preschool mom co-op. Right now he is meeting at a friends house and in a couple months they will get to meet at our house for a month. Mommy is a little nervous, but excited for Ethan.

He has been busy building solar powered robots with daddy (that was his present when Caroline was born) They currently have a solar power windmill standing in our kitchen window. He collects bugs by the hundreds and loves to fill his backpack and pretend to climb mountains and see the world. He also informed me recently to quote, "Mommy, you have a bowl full of jam!" I think he meant to say bowl full of 'jelly' referring to my post pregnancy tummy.....kids just say the darnedest things--and he seems to be full of them these days....If Caroline had been a boy he was insistent on the name 'Santa Claus' (what kid wouldn't want to live with Santa!) and his girl name of choice was Rapunzel.

 My cute little Elizabeth. She has hit her "two's" a little prematurely. I have a feeling Caroline's arrival may have expedited the process, but it is here upon us for better or worse. She is so full of energy I don't think she knows what to do with it half the time! She runs and plays non-stop. She is not talking much still but learning new things every day. She helps Ethan keep track of his blankie, helps him get his shoes when she is ready to go the park and sick of waiting on him, loves to put on makeup and play dress up, but most of all, she loves the attention she gets every time she decimates the toy room leaving every toy scattered around the house.

She loves Caroline. She always wants to hold, kiss, and just love this little baby. The other day I caught her lying in the pack-and-play with her snuggled up to her while she slept! She still calls here "Sasha" instead of her Caroline or even 'baby'. (Sasha is the cats name and just plain easier to say!) She is growing up into an adorable, wild, smart, mischievous, but overall sweet little lady. (the little pigtails just melt me....oh cute:)

 

Now for miss Snow White. She is the "Porsche of babies" as her Daddy calls her. She sleeps at night, she is generally happy and deals very well with two older siblings constantly screaming and jumping around her. She started smiling at about three or four weeks. I know doctors would typically say that is not the case but she was smiling tons the morning of her one month exam and the doctor was thrilled to see her smiling at us! We adore her of course. Our little Caroline Mae is a joy. She is so pretty and we can't wait to get to know her better.

As for Mom and Dad....we are trying to sleep every chance we can and so far have succeeded with our new years resolution of "survival". Actually I feel like we are doing fairly well:) we plan to run our first "family 5-K" next week....we will see how it goes...:) I guess if you don't see a post next week you have your result.

Back yard pool fun this summer

We have a baby pool we set up fairly often this summer. The kids were dying to swim every day--especially Elizabeth. She wears her swim suit almost every day in hopes I will set up the pool for her!

Craig's sister Wendy and her family even enjoyed the pool with us for one afternoon!

Caroline Mae

It's hard to believe but our little Snow White is three weeks old. She was born July 18th at 7:22 pm. She was 7lbs 5.4 oz and and a whopping 21 inches. This mama deserves a pat on the back for that one! My last doctor told me I would probably never have a baby much for than six pounds because my body just couldn't handle it...well, I guess she was wrong! She was over a pound more than Ethan and Elizabeth.

The pregnancy and delivery went well and we were so happy to finally hold our sweet Caroline. (We have been singing Neil Diamonds 'Sweet Caroline' for three weeks now--but no, she is not named after Caroline Kennedy:) We love her and are excited to get to know her better.

Walking out the door to be induced...7 days late. It totally looks like I stuffed a basket ball under my shirt!

She just found out she is now the middle child.

I love how excited Ethan looks. He has been such a great big brother.

One week birthday party. Ethan insisted we had cake to celebrate her birthday.

She looks so tired. But so pretty!

She was actually born with enough hair for hair clips! She looks like a little angel here:)

Five little fingers

It's official! This July a new miracle will be joining our little family!

Just Sunday morning cute

 Elizabeth is constantly bringing me her toy camera and asking me to take pictures of her. She just smiles forever and loves to have her pictures taken. She is really growing up lately--even big enough for pigtails!

Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas with Craig's family in North Carolina. The kids were a little more excited about Santa this year which was fun. Ethan got a new tricycle and Elizabeth got a baby doll stroller for her doll. Neither of them really knew what to do with their new toys but we are getting there:)

Sankt Nikolaus Tag

We had fun celebrating Sankt Nikolaus Tag this year with the kids. We had them leave their boots by the door and Sankt Nicolaus brought them some fun prizes! I realized after we all ate our candy and looked at the calendar that I was actually a day off. We must have been pretty good because he came to see us even though Mommy is going crazy and got her dates mixed up!