I can't believe my last post was Valentine's Day! I think that's the longest I've gone without posting since I started this blog 5 years ago! I think it's safe to say that life has been busier and crazier than ever these last few months. Mostly good busy, a little stressful and exhausting here and there, but as they say, "too blessed to be stressed." I try to remember that anyway. ;) It's been beautiful outside lately so we try and take advantage of that. This picture right here sums up the meal time chaos, more or less. Not a lot of eating going on. (For the record, meal times might be my least favorite times of the day.)
There are so many things I want to write about and I actually have a few draft posts started, but I'm just going to try and summarize life lately.
One of the biggest changes lately is our living situation! Long story short, we found a house we liked in January and made an offer. We went back and forth with the seller a few times and in the meantime, we ended up putting out house on the market as a "for sale by owner." As soon as we posted it, we had a TON of responses! We put it up around 9:00PM on a Monday and we already had several requests to see the house that night! I can't remember how many showings we had, but in the first 1-2 days, we had somewhere around 10+ showings. We accepted an offer by that Friday (and subsequently had other, higher offers--oh well!) and ended up closing at the end of March. Meanwhile, the house that originally prompted us to put our house on the market fell through and the owner ultimately took her house of the market. This left us homeless! Luckily, Nana and Papa John graciously took the 5 of of in! Fast forward 2 months and we finally found a house we like! It needs a lot of updating but it has a ton of potential. It will definitely be a work in progress! We close in a month and we are SO excited!
Another big happening in our household was a road trip to Florida for Spring Break. I was SO nervous for this but we had the best time! It was truly a great trip. I was THIS close to opting for a "stay-cation" instead, but I'm so glad we went through with it. All 3 kiddos were amazing in the car! Of the many, many, many hours in the car, we estimated that there was less than 30 minutes of crying total! G complained the least. ;) Ben and Josh were both really good as well. We made a few stops along the way and on the way back, and it was perfect! The boys loved the beach and staying at Auntie Laurie's house!
I'm sad that I fell behind on G's monthly posts, but again, I think I have several drafts started. My darn laptop is so full that I can't add photos, so it makes it hard to post pictures! Rest assured I have still been taking monthly pictures. Hopefully she will understand the craziness some day.
I am going to try and do a quick little recap on all 3 kids.
Genevieve-- 9.5 months
She is just the happiest little thing! She is basically always smiling, unless, of course, it's the middle of the night and she wants to see me. I try not to complain about sleep, but truthfully, it has been exhausting. Waking up every 2 hours give or take an hour all night, every night is very tiring. It's extra hard when she is waking up the rest of the house. I am hoping that once we move we will be able to do some sleep training! Somedays I don't know how I function--and maybe I barely am. :) She takes great naps during the day and goes down to sleep like a dream, but sleeping through the night is just not something she is onboard with at the moment! Thankfully, she loves to eat! She will eat pretty much anything we give her which is a stark contrast from her older brothers. She is taking less and less milk, but I at least know she is getting nutrients from food too. Sadly, I had to buy her first can of formula this week. I worked SO HARD to pump enough at work but it's nearly impossible some days. It's really hard when you provide direct patient care and people show up late, need more time, etc. I wish there was a way where I could have made it work, but there wasn't. I still pump once at work, but I barely get anything. I nurse her at night and on the weekends, but I don't have much left! I am wondering if this is part of the reason her sleep suffers… Enough about that! Overall, she is the sweetest, happiest little girl. She is extremely mobile and will likely be walking in the near future! She can crawl, climb, and catapult herself over anything like a champs. She does a lot of talking and has definitely said "mama" to me on multiple occasions. Her brothers cannot get enough of her and still get excited to see her every morning as they vie for her attention. What can I say, I love seeing her every morning too!
Joshy--almost 2.5 years
This guy is so much fun! Mischievous, but oh so sweet and loving at the same time. He quickly learned how to make the most of his time when whoever is in charge of him is occupied with someone else. He sees alone time as an opportunity to color on anything but paper, pull a stool over to help himself to a treat, or his latest trick which is hiding and/or sneaking in to G's bed while she is SLEEPING. He has the sweetest little voice and he bats his eyes at you when he is apologizing. He also thinks that freezing, closing his eyes, or avoiding eye contact will prevent you from seeing what he is up to. Sometimes Andy and I have to leave the room so we don't start laughing at his shenanigans. He is a master of sneaking out of bed and it's basically impossible to resist his, "you 'nuggle me, momma?" that inevitably comes out every night. He has grown so much this year and I am so proud of him. He used to be terrified of school but now that it just ended, I know he will miss it. He doesn't like to be the center of attention, but he does like when people notice his shoes, shirt, project, etc. He is obsessed with the color green and anytime he sees something green, he says, "Green!! Joshy's favorite!" We can understand almost everything he says these days and he can count and he knows all of his letters. He LOVES music and singing. And I love hearing him sing. His favorite song is "Muffin Man" and he has really good rhythm. He loves his music class and I can't wait until he can play an instrument because I know he will love that as well. He definitely has his defiant moments but his sweetness definitely outweighs the bad. Love my 2 year old so much!
Ben--4.5 years
Ben continues to be the best big brother! He can Joshy usually play together so nicely and it's just the best. He knows that Joshy will copy him and will do whatever he says, so we gotta make sure that he doesn't get too bossy. ;) I think Ben still takes the cake for being the most dramatic in the house. There are lots of tears from this guy on a regular basis, but luckily they don't last very long and they only happen at home, not at school. He had the nicest reports from his teachers and I am (we are) truly so proud of him. He is a bit of a perfectionist (hmmm, I don't know where he would get that from…) and a hard worker too. His teachers say he is always the last one finished with projects because he has to make sure everything is just right. We try to tell him that things don't have to be perfect and that we are proud of him when he works so hard. Luckily he doesn't seem to get too upset if something isn't exactly how he wants it. He loves, love, loves school and all of his little friends. He is always talking about various kids in his class and he recently went to his first 2 friend birthday parties where parents didn't stay. We love hearing him tell us about his day. His memory is out of this world and somedays I truly feel like he knows more than me. He and Joshy are still little athletes at heart and would rather play with a ball than do just about anything. Ben loves playing with kids and we love watching him interact.
So that's our life lately! It's been good but busy! My hope is that I will get back to writing more once we are settled, but in reality I will probably just be working on house projects in the evening until the end of time. :)
