Some new pictures!

Ross playing around after naptime:
Reid & Lucy chilling:
Reid cheering for the Buckeyes last Saturday:

Why?

That is suddenly the question Reid is asking. And he is asking it A LOT. It started a few nights ago when I came home from the grocery store. Jeremy took Ross & Lucy for a walk and it was just Reid & I at home. It went something like this:

Reid: Why did you buy flour?
Me: Because we needed it and it was on sale.
Reid: Mommy, you bought apples. Why did you buy apples?
Me: Because we were out of apples.
Reid: Why did you buy applesauce?
Me: Because we are almost out of applesauce and you and Ross eat a lot of it.
Reid: Are you washing the dishes?
Me: Yes.
Reid: Why?
Me: Because they are dirty.
Reid: Why are you putting that in the refrigerator?
Me: Because it needs to be kept cold so that it won't spoil.

Anyway...you get the drift, I'm sure. This went on for more than a 1/2 hour and he must have asked me 100 questions. It was amusing more than anything else. I wonder how long this stage will last? And I must remember not to answer with sarcasm, something that Jeremy & my conversation usually is dripping with. Afterall, he is asking these questions because he doesn't know...

And I must not forget to mention that Ross did something very very important this morning. He peed on the potty for the 1st time!!!! Yeah! Now, I know this doesn't necessarily mean he will potty train soon, but it is the first step. He's been asking to sit on the potty recently, but hasn't had any success until now. Woohoo! Yeah for first steps!

Oh, it has been a long week!

I'm glad this week is over. Nothing major (besides the peeing on the elliptical incident) has happened, it has just been long and tiring. It seems that I need to resign myself to having at least one crying child at all times. And usually it is Lucy. She has taken to being awake in the mornings when I have to get the boys around, which means I just cannot hold her (and I don't even like to carry her in the sling because I just can't get done what I need to get done that way).

Lucy is still sleeping well, but is often difficult to get to sleep. We've been trying to get her in bed for 1 1/2 hours now. She'll fall asleep with us holding her, then we lay her down, she sleeps for 3 minutes and then wake completely irritated. We pick her up and her eyes droop shut almost instantly. Sigh...I'll concentrate on the fact that she'll sleep for a good 6 hour stretch instead of the difficult bedtime routine.

Oh, and Lucy went in for her 2 week check-up today (even though she is almost 3 weeks old). She weight in at 9 lbs 12 oz and looks good! She is, also, starting to be awake a lot more and has started checking out her surroundings a lot. No real smiles yet, though!

The boys were in fine form today. Reid must have spent 45 minutes in time out today for hitting, pushing, kicking, etc. Ross was, of course, his target. He's just testing every limit right now. And, of course, Ross likes to retaliate. They'll get through this little phase, I'm sure, but they sure are testing my patience.

On a positive note, I managed to get 20 minutes on the elliptical today, which I feel really good about. I didn't push it on resistance or speed and I felt like I could have run for an hour. As long as I still feel good tomorrow, I'm going to try to do this every day. I really have missed working out. I won't be able to do weight training again until at least 4 weeks postpartum, but I'll just have to wait until then to see how I'm feeling. Prior to getting pregnant I was going to a class called "Body Pump" (a 1 hour barbel class) one or two times a week and really enjoyed it -- I can't wait to get back to it again! Prior to getting pregnant with Reid (almost four years ago) I was in the middle of a weight loss streak and I want to pick up where I left off. Once I hit my target weight (which I'm not sharing), my reward is to go sky diving. I can't wait to go!

For those of you who are wondering who Lucy looks like...

She looks a lot like Reid as a baby. The top is obviously Lucy, the bottom one is Reid when he was a few days old. Pretty close, huh? And I think Reid looks a lot like John.

Grrrr...

Reid is driving me nuts! He purposefully woke Ross up today when I laid him (Reid) down for his nap (Ross was already in the room asleep). I had to remove him from his room and put him in my room, which required moving Lucy who was already asleep in my room. I laid down on the couch to take a nap only to be woken up 5 minutes later by Reid crying. Now, this is unusual, as he usually sleeps well. So, what do I find when I enter my room? Reid, standing on my elliptical, with wet pants. The first problem is that he isn't supposed to be on my elliptical. The second is that he wet himself. The third is that he had put my pillow on the floor at some point and pee splattered all over it. And the fourth problem is that the elliptical is fairly heavy and hard to move, which makes cleaning up the mess a huge ordeal. Oh yeah, and did I mention I just washed my sheets today? So, the washing machine is running AGAIN!

Someone once said to me about children "the days are long, but the years short". This is all too true, I know, because I look at Hannah (now 12) and wonder how she got so big. Right now, however, I'm in the throws of the long days...

Oh, how wonderful a glass of good wine sounds right now!

Bows!

I have a confession to make. I have developed an obsession with bows. Lucy doesn't have enough hair yet to clip anything into it right now. Good thing I found bows on headbands. I was so excited to get my first order in the mail yesterday (and I've already put a second order in now that I've had a chance to check them out in person). Doesn't she look sweet? I think she needs one in every color...

We went to the zoo today!

After having lived in North Carolina for 2+ years now, we finally made the trip to the zoo. It is 1 1/2 hours away, so we haven't gone simply because of the drive. I have to say, I think it is the nicest zoo I've ever been to. It is set-up a lot like a park and the habitats are all "natural" -- there isn't a lot of fencing, cement or buildings visible while at the zoo.

Reid spent the entire morning obsessing about alligators. He must have asked Jeremy & I at least a hundred times if the alligators would get him, because he didn't want them to bite him. I'm not sure where this fear of alligators came from, as the only books we have with alligators in them are pretty friendly and cartoonish. The alligators did end up being his favorite thing, though, in spite of the fact that they didn't move while he was there!

Lucy slept almost the entire way through the zoo, with the exception of when I had to feed her half-way through. Ross even took a little nap in the stroller. As you can see from the picture below, he should have a stiff neck tonight!

I think the boys enjoyed the zoo, but it was a long day all around. It is certainly going to take some time to figure out how to efficiently handle the three little ones when we are out and about!

So today Jeremy & I...

...bought a new freezer for our garage. Last week, the first night after Lucy came home that I cooked, when I went out to get meat out of the freezer I discovered that it was off and not working. The freezer was on a GFCI outlet and we had been warned by the electrician who did the wiring for the pool that the freezer should not be on a GFCI outlet. We initially thought the massive amount of rain we got while I was in the hospital caused the GFCI to trip (because the sprinkler system is on the same circuit). So, Jeremy spent a good deal of time rewiring the circuit so that the freezer outlet was the only non-GFCI protected outlet. We plugged it back in (after throwing away a massive amount of food) and when I went to check it discovered that it wasn't cooling. So, the real problem was that something went wrong with the freezer and the freezer tripped the GFCI. After much discussion (too much, if you ask me) we decided that spending $80 to have the problem diagnosed wasn't worth it when the freezer cost less than $200 to begin with. So, anyway, we now have a new freezer. The good news is that I got to upgrade to an upright, as I hated digging around in the chest freezer. The bad news is that I would have rather spent the money on new shoes or dresses for Lucy (or really, on anything else you can think of). It is always something, isn't it?

I'm tired...

...and I don't have much to say today, so I thought I'd share a few pictures of the kids instead of writing much. These were all taken yesterday. Enjoy!

It's been a busy week!

Jeremy went back to work on Monday. Luckily, my mom, dad & sister arrived on Sunday evening. I wasn't quite ready to be left alone with the three little ones yet. Things are going well and we've managed to get everywhere we need to be on time. I'm dumbfounded, though, why I need to get up at 6:00 (or earlier) to get Reid to preschool on time at 9:00.

We had our first rough night with Lucy on Monday night. As a coincidence, Ross had a rough night, too. Both of them have a cold, but I don't think the cold was Ross's problem. He was up until midnight pitching a royal fit. I finally set the pack-n-play up on the other side of the house and put him in it, so he wouldn't keep Reid or Lucy awake. Shortly after he fell asleep, Lucy woke up and was wheezing and sputtering. The poor little girl couldn't breath well! She was awake off and on for the rest of the night. Boy was I ever sleepy yesterday!

And today is happy happy day. Wanna know why? I fit in my pre-pregnancy pants today. Yeah!!! They're aren't as loose as they used to be, but they do fit (yes, actually fit, I'm not just squeezed into them).

1st bath and other random things...

So, last night we gave Lucy her 1st bath since coming home from the hospital (a bit overdue, I'll admit). She did not enjoy it. Her brothers, however, thought it was a grand time. As you can see from the picture below, I had more than enough help with the process. I need to work with Ross, though, on identifying the difference between a washcloth and a towel -- he was nice enough to put the towel in the tub during the bath.

And here are a couple of pictures from this morning. I can't believe she is a week old already!!!


Jeremy & I went shopping yesterday and picked up a few things for Lucy. You know, you just cannot put a little girl in blue and there is only so much yellow and green a girl can tolerate. The boys stayed home with Grandma. It was, without a doubt, the most peaceful shopping trip we have had with a child since Reid was born. I fed her when we got to the mall and she fell asleep in the first store. I had to wake her up when we were done so that I could feed her before coming home. She even rode in the stroller -- something neither of the boys would do until they were close to a year old! She's such an easy going little girl!

She did it again!!!

I fed Lucy around 9 or 9:15 last night and she was in bed by 9:45. She slept until 3:00!!! Holy smokes! She's sleeping better than Ross!!! However, she got up an hour later with a tummy ache. It took an hour and a half of fussing, wiggling and, finally, a massive spit-up to get her back to sleep. I had to wake her up at 8:00 to feed her, though!

Poor Ross, on the other hand, is having a rough week. He's got a runny nose and is having problems breathing. His tonsils are incredibly swollen right now. He's snoring unbelievably loud for a little guy. Jeremy took him to the pediatrician this morning, though, and they said to let it run its course. Hopefully this will pass soon, because he's getting pretty tired!

How we got her name...

In case you were wondering how we came up with Lucy's name, here you go:

Esther was Betty B.'s mother's name. I fell in love with the name Lucy when I was pregnant with Ross...a couple of people I know from Battelle used it and I just loved it! Why didn't we use Lucille for the first name? Because Jeremy liked the way Esther Lucille sounded better than the way Lucille Esther sounded. I didn't care, as long as we called her Lucy. So, there you go...

Holy Cow!!!

Lucy went down for bed shortly before 10:00 last night. She woke at 1:30 to eat and was back asleep by 2:00. And she woke up at 6:00, ate, and went back to sleep until after the boys left the house at 8:30!!!! Holy cow!!! Is it too much to hope that she'll continue this way? I can more than happily survive on this amount of sleep...

And, drum roll please........Reid slept in big boy pants last night for the first time!!!! Woohoo!!! He's only had one little accident in the last several weeks. He happened to be wearing one of his pull ups at the time. From this little accident and some things he has said to us, I think we should keep him out of the pull ups as much as possible -- he knows it won't make a mess (or as much of one) if he goes in the pull up, but understands he MUST go on the potty when in big boy pants. I just cannot believe how grown up he is getting to be!

And, after 3+ weeks in sposies, we're back in cloth diapers -- both Lucy and Ross. Ross looked thoroughly confused by the diapers this morning, though. I think he forgot all about them...

A picture from this morning

This was the coming home outfit we had in case Reid had been a girl...

Things are going really well!

Remarkably well, in fact. The biggest problem we're having is that I just cannot pick Ross up right now. My discharge papers say not to lift anything over 15 lbs for the next 4 or 6 weeks (can't remember which, but either one is ridiculous). Yeah, there is no way that is going to happen. So, my goal is to make it through the rest of the week without lifting Ross again (yes, I've already done it and shouldn't have...ouch). I'm feeling really good, though.

Lucy is such an easy going baby. She hasn't cried much -- usually just during diaper changes and when I don't feed her fast enough. We haven't really had any extended stints of grumpiness or crying, with the exception of Saturday at the hospital (and the frequent ins and outs of the nurses didn't help with that!). There has been no pacing around the house in the middle of the night (as was common with her brothers). Last night she woke three times to eat and pretty much went back to sleep immediately. I did have to get her back up and burp her after the third feeding, but that was a brief 15 minute ordeal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she stays so mellow!

Reid is loving her to pieces, and Ross would love to, but isn't capable of being gentle enough with her most of the time. So, we're working on that with Ross. I'm dumbfounded, though, by the fact that Reid is so sweet and gentle with Lucy, but rambunctious and rowdy with Ross. I can't convince him to be gentle with both of them...

So, for those who want to know about the birth...

We ended up asking for an induction on Friday night. As most of you have probably heard by now, Jeremy is getting deployed later this year. He's on "block" leave right now (which means his whole unit is being forced to take time off) and will probably not be able to get more time off after this. So, in spite of the fact that I wanted to avoid interventions, we ended up asking for the induction so that Jeremy could be around when the baby came home. They told us to come in on Friday night at 7:30. We sat around for a few hours waiting for an open room. They finally got me in one around 10:00 and then we had to wait for orders to get my antibiotic started (I was GBS+). They wanted to get a full round of antibiotic in before they did anything to start labor. Finally at 11:05, the midwife broke my water and that was all it took and Lucy arrived at 2:31 AM on Saturday. I didn't have any other interventions, so I got the natural (or pain med free) birth I wanted. I must admit, though, it was a lot more intense and difficult than I thought it was going to be. I'm so glad we had our doula -- she was worth far more than we paid her!!!

And off I must go now, as Lucy is getting tired and needs a nap...and momma must nap when the baby naps!

Forgot to mention...

...that we'll be calling her Lucy!

She's here!

Esther Lucille made her appearance on Saturday, September 6, at 2:31 AM. She was 8 lbs 11 oz (exactly the same as Hannah) and 20" long. I had a short 3 1/2 hour labor and feel really good, though a bit (well, a lot) tired. Here is a picture to hold everyone over...will post more when I have two free hands and some sleep!

Reid's 1st Day of Preschool!!!

So, today was Reid's first day of preschool. He was super excited this morning (so much so, that taking pictures was a real challenge). He was there for three hours today and seemed to have a lot of fun. I can't get him to tell me much, though, because he is mad at me and fixating on that. Why is he mad at me? Well, they have an optional program called "lunch bunch" where kids can stay an additional hour and eat at preschool. We didn't sign up for this because it would royally mess up lunchtime for Ross and nap time for both the boys. Of the 10 kids in the class, only two don't stay. So, anyway, Reid was really mad at me when we had to leave. He keeps telling me that I need to remember to take his lunch on Thursday. Sigh...I wish he could stay, but it just WILL NOT work right now. Maybe in a couple of months, when the baby is older and past the newborn phase and we're in a better routine (make that in any routine at all), but for now he is just going to have to be mad at me.

Anyway...here are a few pics of him on his first day of preschool!!!




Additionally, Ross gave Jeremy a heck of a time this morning. (Jeremy is off for this week and next.). Apparently he screamed for an entire hour before Jeremy finally took him to visit Grandma. And he was screaming like a banshee when I got back, too. Apparently he doesn't like getting left out of whatever Reid is doing!

And, yes, I am still pregnant.