Parenting

The other day, I busted Stella in the recliner 'reading' my Love and Logic parenting book (upside down). I grabbed my phone to take a pic of her in action, but she saw what I was doing and struck this pose.

Babies = Love

There is not much that compares to the sweet smile of a baby. Haddie has been smiling and cooing for a while now and it just melts my heart.

Sami was the most perfect baby and because of that, she made Stella look bad as a baby. But Stella was still a great baby, she just cried - as most babies do. And Haddie cries a bit more.

The thing with Stella was that, while she was generally a happy baby, she went from calm to pissed in about three seconds. She knew what she wanted (but we may not have), and she knew how to express the urgency of it (even though it was usually not really an urgent matter). It really stressed us out for those moments that she was screaming.

Haddie is pretty much the same as Stella, but even more dramatic. The urgency of her scream is life or death. And, unlike her older sisters, she has not been a perfect sleeper since day one. She's just starting to sleep some good stretches at night. But I still love her. ;)

I am going somewhere with this.

I can't wrap my head around how many unloved babies there are in this world. I just want to scoop them all up and snuggle them and hold them and let them know that I just love them so much. It doesn't matter that I've never met them before. Babies = Love. It doesn't matter if they are miserable, unadorable babies. They are BABIES. The most innocent little creatures on Earth, and I love them all.

I think that this has been on my mind more lately due to the blood curdling screaming that Haddie does. It stresses me out and I sometimes have to just put her in her bassinet, shut the bedroom door and let her scream it out. While I do that, I still can't help but try to make her feel my love through thought and prayer.

I know that I'm not the only person that feels this way. Anyone out there want to start a baby loving business with me?!

The Girls

Here are some pics to shush up the husband and sister for a while. (They've been saying I need to update the blog.)  More later.

Oh. The pictures of Haddie are to see how she grows into the 9 month outfit she is wearing. Both pics were taken on the same day (Monday).  She will be 6 weeks old tomorrow, so I wasn't sure if I should put 5 weeks or 6 weeks...or 5 1/2 weeks.

...and then there were five

It has been 18 days since our family has grown.  Before our lives changed, I was terrified of what was to come and of how I would handle it.  I expected the worst. Not from the kids, but from me.  I expected that I would have a meltdown within the first week.  That my head would be spinning and I would need to be committed.  It's a bit dramatic, but that's me. It has actually been pretty fabulous. Although I have learned what being tired really is, I am totally enjoying being a mom of three - 100%.  I love the chaos of it.  Joe and I both do.  Tomorrow is when reality will really start to set in because Joe goes back to work, but I've managed all three kids on my own many times in the past week so I know we'll survive. The hardest part will probably be the mornings.  And preschool drop off and pick up. I am excited, though, to get back into a (new) routine. 

Haddie Elizabeth was born on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012, at 8:21 a.m.  She weighed 6 lbs., 7.7 oz. and was 19 inches long. When we left the hospital on Saturday, January 21st, she weighed 5 lbs., 14 oz.  Laying on the operating table it seemed like it was taking an eternity to get the Cub (will explain later) out of me.  As I was laying there I had said that I just wanted to hear that baby cry already, but I didn't really get to hear her cry.  Crying is an understatement.  This little girl came out kicking and screaming. Her feet were the first thing that caught my eye.  She has the skinniest legs I have ever seen and at the bottom of them are narrow, long feet with long toes. Monkey feet.

Sami loves Haddie so much, she just wants to hold her and kiss her and squeeze her and touch her.  Stella doesn't care too much about the new addition.  She'll occasionally come up to Haddie and pet her while saying "nice" or aggressively rock Haddie's car seat, but other than that, it's business as usual for Stella. She has been loving having her all time favorite person in the world (her daddy) home so much.

We are so extremely grateful for all of the gifts that we have received and especially all of the food we have received.

January 5th?!

This might be the only time ever in January in North Dakota that we are out for a walk in sweatshirts and no hats because it is 56 degrees!!!!! I should be cleaning the house or grocery shopping but this seemed so much more important. Totally worth it.

Merry Christmas!!

Judging by the weather we are having, I feel like I should be saying Happy Thanksgiving instead, but my calendar tells me I should be saying Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Thankful 12/24/2011

I was able to get out and finish Christmas shopping this morning; just finished wrapping presents and getting ready for the morning chaos, made it to church with Sami and got to spend some time with family. Bonus: my mom is still here, although she's not staying at my house anymore.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Thankful 12/19/2011

Today I am thankful that I managed to make it to Target with the girls, and even ran into Karina. I let a man ahead of me at checkout and he bought Sami a pack of bubblegum. I got a hand mixer and am baking cookies for Sami's preschool program. Called my grandma (it's her birthday) with a baking question and completely forgot to tell her happy birthday, even though I've mentioned it to Sami and Joe about five times over the weekend. Also, very thankful that I have enough supplies (minus a stick of butter) to make another round of monster cookies since I forgot to include the oatmeal in the first batch (see picture).

Thankful 12/18/2011

Yet another unbelievably beautiful day outside - December 18th and it was sunny and 55 degrees!  I got to lay in bed until 8am; Stella slept from 7:30 last night until 8:15 this morning when I woke her up because I was worried. Joe made pancakes for the girls (I can't eat them due to the gestational diabetes) and he cleaned up the kitchen (he's usually not around at breakfast time). I got to go to church with Sami and she even snuggled with me; AND someone came up to me after church and told me how sweet she thought it was when she saw Sami resting her head on my belly. Only 3.5 days until my mama is here!

Thankful 12/17/2011

Another beautiful day! A family walk, 1 1/2 hours of kid free time while Joe took the girls to the Harley shop, hot chocolate and the forecast looks like it's going to stay nice and clear so my mama won't have any trouble arriving in Fargo on Wednesday night!!!!!