It is ALWAYS an adventure!

After a crazy week weatherwise, we wanted to go on another ski trip with the girls! This time, we'd just go for the day. We had our babysitter, Cameron all set to head up to Maine with us. Our great friends were up there and were gracious enough to let us use their place so Lilah & Clara could have a comfy place to hang with the sitter. We weren't sure if we were going to go, the weather was supposed to be really crazy on Saturday, but we decided at the 11th hour to go!

We woke up at the butt crack of dawn - 5am. I hate mornings, so this is a big deal! We headed out in the slushy snow for Sunday River. The roads weren't great, and by the time we were more than halfway there, the roads were horrendous. Kevin even went off the road about 20 minutes away from the mountain. It was scary, but thankfully we were all fine. We kept on trekking! We got up there just in time to put Mairead in her all day ski school lesson.

The weather was snowy, but warm! We skied with our friends and had a fabulous time. We couldn't have been happier about coming up. The conditions were great, and we were with great company. We took periodic breaks to see Lilah and so I could nurse Clara. They were doing just fine! We visited Mairead at school during her lunch and she was doing great, so much better than last time! We told her we'd be back to see her ski later on. We skied some more and returned to watch Mairead ski. She was doing awesome! I am so proud of how well she was doing, and she seemed so comfortable. Her teacher said she was great and would be able to graduate to the next level the next time we came up. WooHoo! Go Mairead! Mairead was adamant about going onto the chairlift, her teacher said she would probably do just fine, so we did. She was so excited, and not scared at all! We made our trek all the way from South Ridge to Grand Summit. She skied on her own, and skied with some help from me. Kevin and I were psyched! Our first skier :) --- You can see the map above (probably have to click on it to see) where she skied. She started on the bottom middle, and made her way up and over! Can you tell I am so proud of her!?!




After skiing we got the girls dressed and headed to the pool. I remembered to take a snap shot with my phone of little Clara dressed in her bathing suit and hat. Once again, she didn't fail to impress the others in the hot tub. She loves it! Lilah & Mairead were in heaven too, and since it was snowing out, it made things even better! After that I made some homemade pizza for everyone and just hung out. Our babysitter had left and texted me about how bad the roads were, and we should stay. We planned on leaving anyways...but then Kevin and our friend drove down the hill to the store and our car got stuck! The roads were horrendous. Kevin called me and said we weren't going anywhere. Our friends hooked us up with a 1 bedroom unit and we had a comfy place to stay! The kids were psyched to have an unplanned sleepover at Sunday River, and we were thankful that we were all safe. It would have been bad news had we left.

Since it was unplanned, Kevin and I had no change of clothes, toiletries, etc - but we made the best of it and had a great time. The poor dogs were left to spend the night by themselves, but thankfully we have great friends nearby who were willing to help us out. They fed and took the dogs out for us! We are so lucky to have such great friends! We had so much fun, and the conditions were amazing! Definitely worth the craziness. The girls are exhausted....and so are we!

Another craaaaaaaaa-zy night!

Geeeeesh! It seems like it is always something around here! Hey! At least it never gets boring! It has been raining for what seems like daaaaaays around here...okay, since Wednesday, but that's long enough! We've been stuck in the house since then, and I'm ready for the weather to clear.

Last night I met a girlfriend at the mall for some shopping and dinner with Clara. It was fun, but seriously, I hadn't experienced wind and rain like that since hurricane season in south Florida! When I got home, the wind was horrendous. Our house is surrounded by very large trees. It sounded like a freight train moving through our yard. Very Scary. At that point (around 830pm) I was suprised we still had power, and knew it wouldn't be long. It was blowing hard and the rain was torrential!

Sure enough around 1015pm, the power went out...Mairead awoke to the sound of it going out, and Clara was still awake at that point. Kevin set up an old generator my dad had let us borrow during the icestorm in December 2008. That at least gave us power to the pellet stove, some lights and the fridge. By the time all was said and done, it was 1130pm. Mairead was still awake happily watching figure skating on TV, and Clara had fallen asleep. We decided to bring Lilah's mattress into our room since her room tends to get chilly with the door shut, and it was super dark in there. It was like a big campout in our bedroom. Mairead had her cot, Lilah had her mattress, Clara was in her bed, and me and Kev in ours. The wind was so scary, I couldn't stop thinking about a tree falling onto our house...a very real possibility living where we do.

Here it is 0856 and still no power. During the ice storm of 2008, we lost power on a Thursday night and got back on Sunday late. Hopefully it won't be anything like that!

Sleep is over-rated!

Ahhhhhhh....sleep. Where are you? I don't complain about being sleep deprived very often, but these last few days I have been feeling deprived! We finally got Clara to start napping great during the day, and she's even going to bed around 8pm......but.....now, she's waking at 2am. I don't think she's hungry as I feed her before we go to bed around 1030-11pm. Sometimes I can get her to fall back asleep by rocking her in the bassinet/chair, but sometimes I have to nurse her. I don't mind nursing her if she is actually hungry!

She isn't the only child in our household who stopped sleeping well at this age. Both Mairead & Lilah went through this, too. I know the stage is short-lived, but I am ready to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep. Ill even take 5-6! I'm not too picky. We're trying to get Clara out of her "papasan" chair and onto her belly, but she rolls over onto her back and has a hard time falling back asleep. When she is swaddled, she can bust out of it when she wakes....so we're in a bit of a hard place. I know time will fix it! It just sucks.

Last night, Clara was fed at 1030pm, and went right back to sleep. We shut the TV off around 11pm, and just as we fell into a deep sleep, Mairead came into our room. She said she had a bad dream. It's usually  not like her to come into our room. She crawled up into bed with us. Then, one of the dogs had a bad dream. Not sure which dog, but she was yelping loudly for a few minutes. Then Clara woke up. Ugh. We brought Mairead back to her room, I rocked/nursed Clara and we crawled back into bed. Just as we were falling asleep, Mairead came in again. This time we let her stay. By then, it was about 1215am....who needs to sleep? By then, we were laughing. Everyone but Lilah was awake...we knew it would be a rough night...We were right. Then at 225am, here awakes Clara. I just wanted sleep, so into our bed she came. She nursed for one hour. I couldn't take it anymore, so I swaddled her back up, and put her back into her seat. Then she never went back to sleep until almost 4am.......Then, at 5am, she awakes AGAIN. This time, I bring her into bed again, and she falls asleep until 845am. Mairead woke up with a 102 degree fever, which explains her coming into our room and having weird dreams all night.

Ohhhhhhhh.......sleep. Where are you? Please come back soon!

A proud mamma!

Last fall when we decided not to put Mairead in a preschool program I promised myself I would do "preschool activities" at home. Before Christmas, we worked on tracing lines to prepare her to start tracing letters. Now, we've been working on writing letters of the alphabet for the last month. It is so amazing how fast they learn once it all "clicks!" - I love it!

Now, Mairead is able to write her name, Lilah's and mommy. Right now at a bit over 3.5, she can write: A, B, C, D, E, F, H, I, L, M, O, P, R, T, U, W - I am so proud of her!!! She gets so excited when she does it!

Today we were doing some arts & crafts, and we got the markers out. She wanted to write her name, so I helped remind her how to spell (she's real close at that, too), and this is what she did (you may have to click on the photo if you can't see - I took it with my phone):

A cute story...

Mairead loves to talk! I mean, what female doesn't!?! One place she loves to go is to the doctors office. I swear if Mairead is not a doctor, a nurse or in the health professions when she is older, I will be shocked!

Anyways...last week we were in the pedatricians office for Lilah & Clara's well child checks. We were talking about Lilah, and her development. Mairead of course tries to get in a word every few seconds or so, or a story about something or other! When we started talking about Lilah's vocabulary, Mairead pipes up and says:

"Lilah has a silky (lovey) and she calls it DICK! She says it like this: DICK" 

Nice. Dr. M looks up and of course all we could do was laugh. Lilah couldn't say ducky back in the fall, so she said "dick"  and Mairead thinks it's funny to repeat the funny things Lilah says.

Feels good to be organized!

It's been about one month since our Cameron Media System from Pottery Barn Kids arrived. I had been in over stimulation mode for over a month before this, and had to do something about our often chaotic playroom. The toys had no real place to go, and it drove me crazy! We looked all over for the perfect kids storage system. We wanted something for our TV and the toys all in one. We had seen this from PB Kids, but hesitated because of the price. After looking we realized this was it, and ordered it. We had a hell of a time dealing with PB kids. You can read about that here. Putting it together was a cinch. The only thing you had to put together was the cubbies, everything else was assembled. You just had to screw the sections together. The quality is pretty good, too. It doesn't feel or look cheap either.

Here we are now in February, and our toy room has been fabulous! It is soooo easy to pick up, and now the girls know where all of their toys are! The most amazing thing about it is that the girls actually play with their toys more! Before we had this, they only occasionally played dress up, but now, it is almost a daily occurrence. We have all of the dress up clothes in one of the drawers, and all of their babies and baby clothes are in the other, not mish-mashed in one bucket. You can see by the 2nd photo that the toy room was insane. It looked like this way too often for my liking!


Now, everything is organized. I still have to "decorate" a bit, and put some more photographs up, but overall, it is very, very functional! I absolutely love it, and I think Kevin would agree. It holds a tremendous amount of stuff! I may buy 4 more baskets and put the books, etc inside of it to look more organized, but for now, it is awesome!

I finally don't feel anxious when I come into the playroom. I actually enjoy being in here again, and I think the girls enjoy it more, too!

Here are some more "after" photos! We use the piece of furniture below as our "arts & crafts" storage, and we change Clara on the top of it. It works out great. We used to have our TV on top of that.

Happy 5 Months, Clara!

Sometimes I wish I could slow down time...just a little bit! Time goes so fast when you have an infant. I swear they change everyday. Each day it is something new, and I love it!

Clara is growing up fast! She is so close to rolling over onto her belly from her back. She is laughing all the time, especially at her sisters! I love watching the girls interact together. Her naps are much better. She naps 2 good naps per day, about 2-3 hours each, and then may take 1-2 cat naps in addition. Her nighttime sleeping patterns are decent. Some nights are amazing, and some are...well, not so amazing. Overall, I can't complain with her sleeping, she does pretty well! I love her no matter what she does - they are only little for so long...love you baby girl!

One-on-One

Having three girls who are all close in age can be very busy. It also makes it a bit more difficult to have alone time with each of them individually. I think it is very important to have one-on-one time with each of the girls on a regular basis, and I am lucky to have the opportunity to do that! On Fridays, I have a sitter who comes over for a few hours in the morning. I use this time to clean the house, organize, work on projects I may not get time to work on otherwise, or spend one-on-one time with one of the girls or even Kevin! We will use our sitters on Friday evenings so Kevin and I can catch dinner together, too! It really works out well, and I am lucky our sitter is so flexible to do either days or nights on Fridays.

Today, I had planned on cleaning upstairs and then running some errands by myself. I had got to thinking a bit, and thought Mairead may enjoy a few hours out alone with just mommy. When I told her she'd be going out to lunch and then shopping with me, her eyes lit up! She was so excited. She threw her clothes on, and was jumping up and down. It made me so happy to see her so excited! I nursed Clara and kissed Lilah good-bye, and left our sitter with the two younger ones.

We started off at Panera for lunch. Mairead ordered on her very own - mac n cheese with a chocolate milk in a box. She picked out a place to sit, and we had lunch together. It was great! You could tell she was just so happy! 

Once we finished with lunch, she was adamant about going to the mall for some clothes. She wanted to go to BabyGap, so off we went! Mairead is a natural shopper, and always has been. She loves looking at all the clothes. I really think we could spend all day shopping and she would be the happiest kid on the block. I really don't think you realize what a natural shopper she is! She races around the store with clothes in one hand, and going through more clothes. It's awesome! 

She picked out a cute skirt for her and the same skirt for Lilah, but in a different color. How sweet! I was so proud of her for thinking about Lilah, too! I really think she would have bought the entire store if she could have! 

After BabyGap, we went to a few other stores. She was in heaven! We ended up in a shoe store that is closing and reopening to a bigger store out of the mall. She thought it was great to see all of the shoes out. Mairead also loves shoes, and I think she'd have a gazillion if I let her! I was looking at a pair of shoes, and she saw some black heeled shoes, and of course, she had to try them on! 

All in all, we had a really great afternoon together. I think it was just what the two of us needed. I never want my girls to think I never spent enough time with them individually. It's so important to them, and it is important to me, too. It's not often I get to focus soley on one child for more than a little bit here and there. Lilah is still little where even a trip alone to the grocery store is good enough for her! Mairead is at the age where she really is a lot of fun. I couldn't help but look at her sitting with me at Panera and thinking how big she was! She just looked like a BIG GIRL....she was out to lunch with her momma and loving it! Next time we'll go get a pedi together!

Well child checks

Today after our playdate with friends, we headed in for Lilah & Clara's well-child-checks. We're a little delayed, but I really wanted to keep the kids out of the germy doctors office in the middle of cold and flu season.

Lilah had her 2 year old check. Dr. M was impressed with Lilah's language development and being potty trained already! It's funny because it is so hard not to compare Mairead & Lilah. We all know that Mairead's language development by age 2 was above and beyond the norm (speaking in 10-12 word sentences), so when Dr. M told us Lilah's language was "impressive", we were reassured Lilah is doing great! Lilah was a little apprehensive in the beginning of the appointment, but she calmed right down and the Lilah we know and love came out! Lilah weighed 22lbs (3%) and 33'' (50%) at 26 months. Our girls are so petite - I love it!!! She got two shots (polio) and her H1N1 booster. She cried for a minute, but went right back to sucking on her dum-dum pop. Then the nurse poked her finger for an iron level, and she barely flinched. When her finger bled, she said "oooh, paint! red!" It was cute.

Clara had her 4 month check at just about 5 months. Dr. M was shocked at how much Clara has changed since she saw her last (just before Christmas). Clara is right on target in her development, and even a little ahead. Looks like she has caught right up from being born 4 weeks early! She weighed in at a whopping 13lbs6oz (25%) and 25'' long (50%). She is following right in her sister's footsteps. If that statement is true, she will start to really slow down in her weight gain, and start to fall back on the curve a bit - we'll see in the next few months! It never ceases to amaze me to look at the scale and know that Clara has gained all of her weight because of my breast milk! It truly is amazing...We also talked about solid foods, and I discussed waiting a bit until Clara is several months older. We won't start until at least 6 months, and really at that point, she'll just get tastes of everything until she's ready to start chowing down on table food - more specifically mamma's homemade soupy soup! I love that our pediatrician is so supportive of breastfeeding and delaying solids. Clara also got two shots, and her roto virus vaccine. She did great! She just cried for a second, and once I started nursing her, she was good to go! She's been happy ever since. I'm so lucky our girls have done so well with their shots.

Mairead also had a blast at the appointment. She just loves going. It really is hilarious. She made sure Dr. M gave her a once over, too! She even wanted a shot - so a shot she got! She needed her H1N1 vaccine, too, so we were able to fulfill her request! The nurse loves our girls because they barely care about getting shots!

All in all, a great appointment. Two healthy, growing girls! I love it!

Beautiful winter day with my girls!

Ahhhhhhhhh.....you can almost smell spring now! I love it. We were supposed to get a snow storm yesterday into today, but instead, we got just about an inch! I was kind of bummed because I was looking forward to taking the girls sledding, or building a snowman together, but instead, we got nothing. Oh well.

We woke up today to a beautifully blue sky. The smell of spring was in the air. Our kitchen was filled with warm sunlight. It was so warm in our house I turned down the pellet stove, and opened a few windows. It felt amazing to air out the house a bit!

My girlfriend Kristen, came over today with her two kids, who are the same age as Mairead & Lilah. They hadn't seen each other in a while. It never fails that one our kids is sick, so we stay away. For a change, we were all healthy, so it was playtime! The kids played great. I love watching Mairead & Owen interact with each other! Lilah & Lily just played together. I'm glad the girls got to have some play time with their friends.

Sometimes I feel so isolated in the winter. Since it is RSV season still, I've been pretty cautious taking the kids to "germ pits". Clara is too little to handle RSV, and after dealing with RSV with Lilah, I am scared. It's a nasty, nasty virus that can have some pretty serious consequences for the little ones. No thanks...Thankfully I have good friends who like to get together and play!

I am so anxious for spring and summer when we can spend the entire day outside playing together! It is going to be so great this summer! Mairead and Lilah are at such an awesome age, and Clara will be starting to be on the move! Good times are yet to come! I can't wait...

My new "Running Blog" is up!

Come visit me at:


Stephs 90 Day Challenge

Come join the challenge with me.......remember, I hate running, too.....so, NO excuses!!!

A new blog

I need to lose weight, and have been talking about losing 10-15 pounds for almost a year. I haven't done anything about it because I knew Kevin and I would most likley be trying for another baby (Clara). I knew I would be able to sport a bikini being big and pregnant, but now, NO WAY!

Now, I am back to the weight I was when I got pregnant with Clara. I am ready to lose the weight I have gained with the girls. I am not sure if Kevin and I will go for #4, and even if we do, I am ready to make the commitment to lose about 10 pounds. I want to feel good about myself, and right now, I do not.

When I was married 4.5 years ago, I weighed about 115-118 pounds, now, I weigh about 130. I was a rockin' 110 in college; in the best shape of my life. I want to feel that good again. You may say I don't look like I need to lose weight, but I certainly feel it, and my body needs it, too. I need to get my body in better shape, even if I don't get back to my wedding weight.

I've had about one year to prepare myself mentally. I've always said Spring 2010 I would begin. Here we are in 2010, and March is approaching. I have been trying to think of the best way to do this. It is hard with three little girls to make time for the gym. I would much rather try to do it with my girls. The hard part....I don't run. I've thought about starting to rollerblade again, and I could do that with our double stroller, too. I am also not motivated enough to work out in front of a TV either on a regular basis either. I have thought long and hard about how I am going to lose this weight, and I am going to learn to run. Yes, me, the anti-runner. Please don't laugh!

In order to keep me true to myself, I thought I would start a blog (separate from this) about running for 90 days. I am going to give myself 90 days to make an opinion on running, and in that time, I hope to lose a little bit of weight, and more importantly, get my body in shape.

I hope it works. I am ready to do something good for myself. It is something I will be able to do with my girls, my husband, my friends, and neighbors. Once my blog is up and running, I will post the address.

I need some ideas on what I should name my new "running blog"...........what do you think? Leave a comment below!

I am sitting with my Angel...

Last year's Valentines was a lot different than todays. I don't remember exactly what we did last year on Valentine's day, but I do remember Kevin and deciding to have a quiet dinner at home. We stopped at the local meat market and picked up some filet mignon and jumbo shrimp. We ate with the girls, and then put the girls to bed. We had planned to watch a movie together and enjoy the evening.

On February 3rd, I had found out I was pregnant with Clara. We were overjoyed with the thought of having another baby! It was the best birthday gift one could have, so needless to say my birthday and Valentines was great, and we had lots to happy about!

That evening, I parked myself on the couch while I waited for Kevin to come downstairs. I had an odd feeling down below...so off to the bathroom I went. I had to pee anyways, so I thought I'd check things out. I wiped, and looked and then I gasped. There. Was. Blood. "No." I thought. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I had had spotting with Mairead, but never red blood. I called Kevin into the bathroom. My heart sunk. I knew there wasn't anything anyone could do, but wait. We didn't watch a movie that night. I knew what to expect. We went to bed instead, and I worried all night long, waiting to wake up to heavy bleeding. I don't remember how many trips to the bathroom I made, but it was a lot. It never got worse, and that gave me hope.

We made our way into the ER the next day and they couldn't tell me anything really. They didn't see a baby in there. I didn't expect them to, I was just pregnant. They questioned an ectopic pregnancy, said they saw a "mass" on my ovary, and didn't give me the reassurance I was looking for. Later on we found I had what is called a subchorionic hemorrhage . Thankfully, since our bean had a strong heartbeat by 6 weeks, we had a very good chance of carrying our bean to a healthy pregnancy.

I think back to one year ago tonight. I am here, sitting in the same exact spot I was sitting in, but I am sitting with my little angel, Clara. She is 4.5 months old and a healthy baby girl. I am so thankful to have her here in our lives. She brings all of us so much joy. You just look at her and she smiles at you. The way I felt last Valentines day is so completely different of how I feel tonight. I have my valentine Kevin here who is always by my side, and I have my three, healthy angels, one of which I never thought would be here with us today. I am so lucky.

A great birthday weekend

Having a birthday the day before Valentines day can have it's advantages as well as disadvantages. Thankfully, Kevin does a good job at keeping the two separate. My 30th birthday last year was much more "climactic" - Kevin threw me a surprise party with family and friends, and not to mention, I had just found out I was pregnant just a week or so before my birthday. This year was much more "low key", and I am fine with that.

Yesterday was a great family day! We headed to Freeport for a little shopping. It was a beautiful day, and we had a lot of fun! I got a few new things at J Crew for the spring. After shopping we headed home for a little relaxing while the girls napped. We had planned on going out to dinner with the girls, but our good friends Laura & Derek invited us over for dinner. It was a lot of fun. We brought over the cake Mairead picked out for me, and everyone sang happy birthday to me. We finished off the night watching the Olympics.

Today we headed to my parents house to have a birthday/Valentines day lunner. Joe & Carley and their little baby, Landon met us there, too. It was a relaxing Sunday filled with yummy food and of course, love... My parents gave me a new hair dryer...wooop-dee-do-da....you may say, but this hair dryer is almost equivalent to being in a wind tunnel. It dries your hair in like 2 minutes, which is great when you're trying to escape out of the house with three little ones! Love it! Joe & Carley hooked me up with a gift certificate to 'Spa Finder', so Ill be able to get a pedi or massage in the near future....yeah!

All in all, this weekend has been great! Thanks everyone for making my birthday weekend so special! xoxoxo

I love date nights!

Last night Kevin and I had a dinner out alone...well sort of, Clara came with! We made reservations for a restaurant here in Portland called "The Grill Room". It is an awesome restaurant where you can get some pretty yummy steaks among other things. I love the atmosphere, all exposed brick and beams, so rustic. We had really wanted to leave Clara with our babysitter, but she can be quite high maintenance during the 730p-930p hour where all she wants to do is nurse. She doesn't even want much to do with her daddy...just the boob. I couldn't leave her knowing she would most likely cry for the evening. It wasn't fair for her or the sitter, so along she came!

You don't realize when you have just one child how easy an infant is, but when you have toddlers, you quickly realize a dinner with a 4 month old can be pretty enjoyable! Kevin and I were able to enjoy some adult conversation, a good drink or two, and yummy food. Clara enjoyed all the extra attention from the waitstaff! She flirted, and smiled at everyone.

Kevin and I each started off with a crock of french onion soup. I love it. Of course, Clara started to get fussy, so I whipped out my pouch from Kangaroo Korner, put her in, let her nurse and I continued to enjoy my soup. Wearing your baby sure does make things a lot easier. I was able to enjoy my dinner, and she was able to enjoy a snack, too! Clara eventually fell asleep in the pouch, which meant Kevin and I were left to enjoy a quiet dinner all to ourselves. After our soup, we enjoyed Filet Mignon, Kevin had duck fat potatoes, and I had macaroni n cheese. We finished up our dinner with some fresh cinnamon sugar doughnuts with some vanilla ice cream. YUM!

All in all, it was a very nice evening  out together. I look forward to when we can start leaving Clara at home with the girls. It would have been nice to continue our evening listening to some live music at one of the bars downtown, but that's okay...Kevin and I were able to spend some quality time together., and that is all that matters...

It was a great night to celebrate my birthday and Valentines all at once!

Is this what you do all day?

 Kevin came home early today for two reasons: to go and get Clara's passport (both parents have to be present), and to be with the girls while I go get the massage I so deserve. Let it be known that Kevin scheduled the massage for me. He had given me a gift certificate last Mother's Day, and being pregnant, I never fulfilled it! Since it is my 31st birthday tomorrow, I guess I deserve to take a few hours and redeem my Mother's Day gift!

Anyways, we are sitting here in the kitchen eating lunch. The girls are chompin' on PB & Fluff sandwiches, Clara is in her bumbo watching us, and Kevin is just watching. Watching life go by. He then says to me....

Is this what you do all day?........sit, watch the kids eat.....does it ever get tiring? boring? As he shakes his head in amazement.

In a way, yes, it is what I do "all day", but it is so much more than sitting and watching the kids eat. Yes, sometimes it does get tiring, but only when it has been a day of whining, fussing and fighting. I would also be honest and say NO, it surely doesn't get boring. I always have to be on my toes, wondering what's going to come up next.

As we are having this conversation, Kevin had some leftover pizza in the oven, he takes it out. I take a piece (I had already had 2), that left 3 left for Kevin. Mairead then asked for her own piece. Then Lilah asks for hers, of course. Daddy left with one lonely piece. The girls wouldn't split their piece. Kevin squaks a bit about not having lunch, but here I am thinking "this is my life...why do you think I wait until the girls go for their rest/naps to have lunch???" They always want what you have, and then because they are so damn cute, you give them what they want.....not to mention, they didn't have dinner last night (see my previous post), so they are ravaged!

It is always something in our house, which makes it so not boring, and almost always crazy. My days are filled with three sweet little girls who fill my heart with so much love, joy and of course laughter!

The last draft was saved at 12:57, everyone was sitting quietly at the kitchen table.

It is now 1:02pm, I was on the phone with my mother, and I hear Kevin yelling "Lilah..................." - she pooped in her booster seat! I chuckle inside. This is what I do. I laugh at it, what else can you do? Kevin doesn't think it is too funny, but I do. I had him pick it up. See, it's never boring in this house!

It is always something in this house!

I'm not a short order cook...

When Kevin and I had kids, we both agreed we would make one meal and one meal only. If one or all of our children refused dinner, then they would not get anything else until breakfast the next morning. The only exception would be is if we made some weird food, then we would make then a separate dinner. Thankfully for our kids, we don't eat much weird food. I don't like spicy food, and different ethnic foods (curry, etc). Having multiple children does not mean I am going to make multiple meals every day. We are very blessed with girls who are very, very good eaters!

Tonight, I made a yummy chicken francese with spinach gnocchi. I've used this recipe by Rachel Ray a few times, but have made it into my own. It is really easy, and very good! The girls love chicken, and they like gnocchi, but tonight, was a no go. Mairead took a few bites of the chicken and gnocchi, and I don't think Lilah took more than one bite. I always feel guilty sending them to bed without dinner (and no snacks the following day), but it's a rule... They have both eaten this dish before and haven't had any "issues" with it, so I knew they liked it.

So, tonight, I am feeling a bit guilty. Our girls are probably going to wake up hungry, but I guess it is a good lesson learned and they will eat a really good breakfast! I don't expect them to eat every last bit, but I do expect them to give a good faith effort. They'll be happy tomorrow when Kevin and I have a date night, and they're left to eat mac n'cheese and dinosaur chicken for dinner!

Not-so-Wordless-Wednesday

It's hump-day! We've been really busy lately, so I thought it would be nice to have a relaxing day at home. We have swim lessons tonight, so we're just hanging out together! Once I put Clara down, I brought out the paint and easel, and let the girls have at it with the paint! They loved it! As you may know, I'm not a mom that's really good at doing arts & crafts with my girls, so this was a treat! I would much rather be baking, playing games, pretend or OUTSIDE!

We've been having fun dancing and playing together! I love mornings like this...it's days like today that I really love being a stay at home mom!

Here are some photos from our morning so far! Of course, I had to whip out my camera. I love times like these when I have an excuse to take cute shots of my little girls having fun and getting messy!

 

 

3 Bedrooms.....3 kids.....who shares?

We have 3 bedrooms, and 3 kids. This means two of the girls will need to share a room. Joy. Right now, the crib is in Mairead's room. I feel like she can handle it best better since she is older and has a better understanding of it all where I can see Lilah trying to climb into the crib during nap time or doing something else that she isn't supposed to be doing. During the day, it's easy. Clara naps, and Mairead doesn't. I've been having Mairead rest in our bedroom and it has been working out well. At bedtime, it's a bit more tricky. Mairead takes her time going to sleep, has to tend to her dolls, sing a few songs and do whatever it takes to not fall asleep. Clara on the other hand will nurse to sleep, and then I put her in the crib. I know once I walk away, Mairead starts looking at her, talking, singing, and ultimately wakes Clara up. As soon as Clara makes a peep, we hear about it. "MOM! Clara is awake!"........"MOM! Clara is crying!".......or....."Rock abye baby......go to sleeeeeeep........it's okay"....by now, Clara is definitely awake and NOT going back to sleep. I mean, what do you do? Where does Clara go? She sleeps at night with us in our room, so I am thinking Clara should probably just start the night off in our room and stay there until she is on a more consistent nighttime routine/schedule.

You're probably thinking "why not put Mairead & Lilah together?" - you obviously don't know these two girls. They are so extremely polar opposite when it comes to sleep it isn't funny.

Mairead: not a great sleeper. Like I said above - she loves to play before bed, light on, door open, music on. In the morning, she gets up and comes into our room. Falls back asleep until 8am. Oh, yeah, she doesn't nap, and hasn't done so consistently since before age 2.

Lilah: an awesomely amazing sleeper. Will take 2-3 hour naps daily. Plays before bed, unless she is tired, then she'll pass out. Hard. Likes it dark. Door closed. White noise On Loud. Has tendency to wake up early if she hears noises in the morning, though sometimes will sleep until 9am. If she wakes early, and you leave her alone, she'll usually go back to sleep.

Why mess with success? I'd rather keep the amazing sleeper sleeping, and the mediocre one with the baby, who is able to understand quiet and not to climb into the crib!

What to do...What to do... I guess it is all about trial and error. Wait! Maybe we should buy a house with FOUR bedrooms!

Any thoughts? What do you do? 

Attachment Parenting

“Nothing is more important in the world today than the nurturing that children receive in the first three years of life, for it is in these earliest years that the capacities for trust, empathy, and affection originate.” ~ Elliott Barker, M.D

 

How could you disagree with this statement? For me, I completely agree with the first few years of life being the foundation for a well adjusted child. I know Kevin and I are big believers in what is called Attachment Parenting. 

If you had told me before I had children I would be a big believer in babywearing, nursing, co-sleeping, not letting our children cry it out, etc, I may have said, "yeah, right". My baby will cry it out, she'll never be in our bed and she'll be fine. When we brought Mairead home, she and I would fall asleep in bed together. We all slept better, and to be honest, it just felt right. For 9 months my child had been snuggled up inside of me with every need being met. She never felt hunger, cold, or alone; I was always there to meet every need before she even felt it. All of a sudden, she was born, and she started to feel hunger, cold and without her mommy. I certainly couldn't expect my child to all of a sudden be okay without me, she needed her mommy to be close with her.

I wanted to make sure I was sensitive to my children's cues. When my baby cried, it was for a reason, and I wanted to make sure we responded promptly to those cries. I firmly believe that a baby cries for a reason. I read the first 12 weeks an infant does not know they are now separate from their mother, so when they are put down (especially in a bassinet, etc), they may feel as though something is missing from them. It completely makes sense, and I think after having Clara, this was particularly true for her. She hated to be put down or away from me, and it is only until very recent that she can ride in the car without screaming, now, once she hears my voice, she knows she is okay. 

I never believed I would be an advocate of co-sleeping either. Like I mentioned above, it was after Mairead was born that I started to be a believer in it. Once Kevin and I realized how much better life was with more sleep, and a happy infant, we were sold. This is what people did hundreds of years ago; they slept with their baby. Mairead slept in our bed until recently (just in the morning), Lilah slept in our bed until about 10-12 months old (when she wanted to be in her own bed), and Clara currently sleeps with us. She falls asleep in her bed next to mine, and when she wakes the first time, she comes into our bed and spend the rest of the night there. It just feels right to us, and if it helps our child feel more secure, we are 100% on board with it.

We also love babywearing! We love our fleece and cotton adjustable couch from Kangaroo Korner, and have used it with all three girls. Whenever our girls were fussy and couldn't settle, all we had to do was place them in the pouch, and immediately they would settle down. It was our lifesaver. Not only did it help with a fussy baby, but it also gave you your hands back, which it vital when you have other little ones to take care of, too! When our girls got bigger, we used the Ergo Baby Carrier,  it is awesome. Babywearing felt so natural for me (and Kevin). It was a way our baby could feel safe and secure, and for us, that was important. 

Nursing is a vital part of raising my girls. I had always been a supporter of breastfeeding moms, but now that I am nursing, and have been nursing for almost 4 years consecutively, there is so much more to just feeding your baby. For me, nursing isn't just feeding my baby, it is bonding with them, and allowing them to feel secure. It is the most natural thing, and I feel so lucky to have been able to nurse my babies for so long. Nursing has been and is a very important part of my girls life thus far. Mairead nursed for close to 30 months, and even though she got little nutrition from my milk at that point, she was getting love and learning affection and trust. I love that Mairead has such fond memories of nursing, and now, with two younger sisters who are nursing, she is so supportive and loving. She nurses her babies, and talks about how good it makes them feel. It's an amazing feeling for me to hear her talk like that. 

There have been some tough times where I had felt like I wanted to let my baby cry it out, or not sleep with us, but I took a deep breath, and asked myself what was important. I thought about all the people in our life who were trying to have babies, or who lost babies, and I started to feel lucky. I had beautiful children, and if all they wanted was their mommy or daddy to hold, rock or nurse them, I felt lucky I could give them that, and we did.

I feel as though this style of parenting will give my children the extra boost to be caring, compassionate, connected, and confident children. I want my children to know that me and Kevin are always there for them. I know we cannot take all the credit for who our girls become, but I do know the way our children were raised in the first years of their life will help them become strong, independent individuals.

Our Sunday River Ski Weekend!

We're back from our family weekend at Sunday River! It was great to have a weekend just having fun with the girls, my parents, and of course, some alone time with Kevin. The weekend started off a bit shaky. Kevin was not able to get out of work early, so I raced around all morning getting everything set to go so when Kevin got home, we could just jump in the car and leave. Thankfully, I had our babysitter come for a few hours, once she left, the kids were on their own - ha ha ha - not really, but I felt like I just ignored them. Kevin got home about 430pm, and we were on our way, late, but we were on our way. The girls did great on the way up there, even Clara!

When we arrived, the girls were so excited! It was dark, and Mairead was very curious about this "mountain" she would be skiing on. We made some quesadillas for dinner, and headed to the outdoor pool while we waited for my parents to arrive. It was Clara's first time in a swimming pool! I felt bad because it was about 20 degrees and windy outside, and it was COLD! She was a bit stunned, and didn't last long. The girls didn't care, they were so excited! They couldn't stop talking about swimming outside in the "wintertime". Too cute! When my parents arrived, the girls were off the wall. Mairead fell asleep about 10pm, and Lilah about 1015pm. Lilah climbed out of her pack-n-play at 5am and was walking around the place, thankfully we heard her. She didn't fall asleep until about 615am.

Once we woke up, it was busy! We had to get all of our ski stuff ready. Mairead was excited. She would be taking her first all day ski lesson. We dropped her off at ski school. This was the first time Kevin and I had ever left her for something like this. She did fine. Makes me happy to know she'll do great in school when it is time to leave her there. Me, Kevin and my dad headed off on our own while my mom had Clara and Lilah back at the condo.

Here is Mairead all ready to ski! She was on the "red" team for kids who have never skied before. She was on "Queen Elizabeth's" team, and she was her princess. Too cute!

The ski conditions were just okay, pretty icy, but I wasn't complaining. This was the first time I had been skiing in 5 years - my longest drought ever! It's just like riding a bike...We had to head back to Clara every few hours so I could nurse her. My mom attempted to give her a bottle, but she wasn't having any of that! It wasn't a problem. It was an excuse to get warm, and cuddle with my baby. 

Kevin and I were able to catch a few runs by ourselves. It was nice to have some alone time without kids. It's been since before Christmas that Kevin and I have had a date. On one of our runs we got the call from ski school, Mairead wouldn't eat lunch and was upset. We raced back to the lodge, which took a while! I felt horrible, praying Mairead was not hysterically upset. When I got there, she was hugging one of her "coaches" crying. I felt horrible. I gave her a big hug, and talked to her about it. She missed her momma and daddy. I asked her if she wanted to continue skiing, and mamma would watch her. She agreed, and hopped on the ski mobile to catch up with her class. She did GREAT! I was shocked. I spoke with her teacher about her morning, and she said she actually did awesome, and was progressing nicely. She also said she didn't break down until lunch, and did great before that. Me, Kevin and my dad watched Mairead for a while until she felt comfortable again. It was fun watching our little girl ski! It definitely made us super excited for the future when all of our kids will be skiing with us!

Here are a few videos of Mairead skiing with her class! 

Once our ski day was over, we picked Mairead up at ski school. We then headed off to the Foggy Goggle with my parents, and the girls. We sat out on the deck, and enjoyed the warm sunshine.....oh, and the cold beers! The girls loved watching the people ski down the mountain. Mairead was so excited about her ski experience. She kept talking about how she wanted to try the chair lift next! Overall, it was a fun, successful ski day for all. 

Once we got back, we relaxed a bit, and headed down to the pool with the girls. It was great. The girls absolutely loved it, and were not phased by the cold at all. Since Clara was cold the night before, I made sure I put a winter hat on her. We went right into the hot tub this time, and she LOVED it! It was hilarious because she was in  this cute bathing suit and a winter hat. Everyone in the pool was in awe over her. I wish I had my camera, because it was sooo cute. The girls thought it was great they were allowed in the hot tub. We all had frozen hair. After the pool, we dried off in the sauna, showered and went to the Phoenix for dinner. The girls did great. We were in shock Mairead was still happy and functional after her big day skiing! At dinner, the girls were dancing as the band set up!  They were entertaining the entire pub. Everyone was having a really great time.

This morning, we got up, and of course, everyone slept great! We all were exhausted. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a late check out time, so we had to start packing right away. I was disappointed I wouldn't be able to take Mairead skiing, but I didn't want to spend $77 dollars for a few hours on the magic carpet (bunny hill), not to mention make Kevin sit in the lodge with Lilah and Clara. Oh well, now we know she likes it, and we will certainly have to bring her again. The girls were sad to leave, they love going away so much. They all did so great! It was a lot of work, I mean skiing is a lot of work without kids, but in the end, it was completely worth it. We had a really great time, and we are thankful for my parents who were able to help out a ton with the girls. I hope they had as much fun as we had. For such a last minute ski trip, it all came together, and we were able to have a great time together. It was just what the doctor ordered for the winter blues!

Planning to travel when you have small kids and dogs...

Kevin and I are firm believers in introducing our children to traveling and staying in different places at a young age. Before the age of one, Mairead had been on a plane about 15 times (maybe more). She has been to Mexico twice, Florida multiple times, and many other places. Even Lilah has been on a plane more than most two year olds, and has also taken a trip to Mexico. In April, we will embark on a trip to Madrid, Spain to celebrate the marriage of my Spanish sister, Diana.

Earlier in the week our good friends were able to fit us in at the Grand Summit at Sunday River for a weekend of skiing. With small children as young as ours, a ski in/out condo was vital in order for me to be able to nurse Clara without having to subject anyone to spending endless hours in the lodge with lots of other people. Once we got the go ahead for this weekend, we had to find a babysitter for the girls to come with, and one for the dogs. You would think it would be an easy feat, but it surely was not.

Our regular babysitter was unable. Then, we got a great idea to invite my brother, Carley and new baby Landon along. We thought it may be a great way for Joe and Carley to spend time together, and Carley and I to have a little fun while taking turns watching the rug rats. Unfortunately, they were unable to do it. We invited my parents to come along. We figured it would be fun for all, and thankfully they were able to! So once we got someone to help us with the kiddos, we kept running into snags with our dogs. As of last night, we had no one to watch our dogs, and we were going to cancel our weekend. At the last minute, a fav gal friend of mine and a co-worker stepped up and offered to each take a dog! YEAH! Who knew it would take so much effort and anxiety to plan for all of this! We kept running into snags, but we kept with it, and so far, we are planning on going!

Once we had all of our ducks in a row, I called and scheduled Mairead for her FIRST ski lesson. She'll be in an all day lesson on Saturday. I can't wait to see my baby on skis, I really hope she loves it! I am excited for Kevin and I to have some fun together, and I hope my dad gets on skis, too! There is an outdoor pool and hottub, and can't wait for all to enjoy!

Some may be turned off by all the planning involved in taking a family away for just a weekend, but overall it is worth it. It's a good lesson for our children, and it is always worth taking some time for the family. I love when complete strangers compliment us on how well behaved our children are. Mairead to this day talks incessantly about our family vacation to Mexico last March. It makes Kevin and I smile, and makes it all worth it when our children have such fond memories of our times together.

Preschool. To go, or not to go. That is the question.

As a parent, you want to do the right thing. You want to make sure you make all the right decisions for your child, so they turn into well-rounded, independent individuals. When Mairead was an infant, we made the decision together for me to stay home with our children. I had attempted briefly to go back to work as a labor nurse, but my heart wasn't there anymore. I wanted to be with my baby.

Now, Mairead is almost 4 (in May), and we are facing ourselves with the decision to send or not send her to preschool (pre-kindergarten). We made the decision last year to not have her do two years of preschool. For one, we just couldn't come up with a good enough reason to do so. Mairead is a very social,  independent little girl. Instead of school, we decided to put her into extracurricular activities, like dance, gymnastics and swim class. Mairead is socialized several times a week with children her own age in addition to her classes. I guess I also thought that when I made the decision to stay home with our children, I also made the decision to socialize and teach our children, which in my opinion, you do not need preschool to do. As difficult as it is some days to be home with 3 little girls, it's my job, and I love it. Another reason we decided to keep her out this year was because I was due to have Clara in September/October. We knew this would be an adjustment having a new baby in the house, but it would have been an even bigger adjustment to send her to school at the same time. We also knew Clara would most likely be born premature, and we wanted to make sure she (Clara) stayed as healthy as possible without bringing any extra germs into the house from school.

So, here we are. It's February, and time to decide if Mairead will attend pre-K or not. She wants to go, and I think it would be good for her to learn to take direction, praise and reprimand from someone other than mommy and daddy. I also would love for her to make some more girl friends her own age. It seems many of our friends have boys her age, and girls Lilah's age. While Mairead loves her boyfriends, she also yearns to play with other girls her age that want to play dolls, house and dress-up. Mairead is a girly-girl, tried and true, and she needs friends who are, too. I am certain Mairead does not need to go for the "academic" portion of preschool if there is such a thing, she is very much on target, and even ahead of most.

The things that make us not want to send her are: cost, need and the fact we won't be able to afford to put our kids in all the extra-curricular activities they are in now. Preschool is expensive. Period. The school we visited today costs $378/month for three, three hour days per week. That is expensive for a glorified day care, I just can't justify that when I am home here with Lilah and Clara. There are a few other places that are cheaper (Great Portland Christian, Holy Cross and Casco Bay Montessori), three are in South Portland, 15-20 minutes out of the way. Yes, Kevin can drop her off in the mornings, but I would have to go to the other end of South Portland to pick her up. Not exactly convenient when most of our activities are in the other direction! The other school up the street from us is a Church program. I have yet to visit yet, but I am not sure I even want to. They don't have any outside play equipment for the kids! That is pretty much a deal breaker for me. For $300/month there better be outside toys to play with!!!

You may ask "why don't you homeschool her" - well yes, I have thought of that, but to be brutally honest with you, I don't think I could do it. I don't think I have the patience. Kevin and I are planning on sending our girls to public school (if we live in an area that has good/decent schools), and if we are living here in Maine when Mairead goes to kindergarten, it is 5 full days per week. If we didn't send her (to preschool) next year, I am afraid the shock of being away from home full time would really be a huge adjustment, and I don't want to regret not sending her to preschool.

It's a tough call. Everyone has their opinions on preschool. I think the majority of the population feel preschool is a necessary thing. I am pretty sure I am not a true believer of preschool. Our children will more than likely spend the next 13 years in a structured school system, where we will be at the mercy of the schools. How will 3 hour school days make that much of a difference in how well my child will do in Kindergarten? I feel like we (Americans) are too quick to rush our children out of the house, and even make them grow up faster than they should. Nowadays, schools are limiting recess, and gym time - some of my favorites in school, and these are the times when children are allowed to be children!
A friend of mine who lives here in Maine told me her children are not allowed to run outside!? Really? Has it gone that far?

I don't know what the right answer is, and since I feel preschool can only help my child gain confidence in social settings, and dealing with real-life situations, we will most likely send Mairead, and suck up the outrageous cost! She wants to go, and we will let her give it a go.

Manic Mondays can lead to Terrific Tuesdays!

I love how one day can be so dramatic, and annoying, while the next can be so fun! I know everyday with kids can be so different which makes it much easier to get through the tough day. I know after the girls have gone to bed, I go upstairs to kiss them goodnight (after they've fallen asleep), my love and excitement for the next day is renewed. You see them all snuggled up with their blankets, sound asleep, and they just look so sweet and innocent. How could they possibly cause so much trouble? I love them anyways!

Today has been a great day. Today was the day Mairead and I went to visit a preschool. Kevin and I decided to keep Mairead out of school this year, and only put her in school the year before kindergarten. We have a lot of reasons why we chose to do this, and I'll save that for another day. Mairead was super excited, and so was mommy. Mairead has been talking about going to school for a while now. When I told Mairead we were going to visit a school her response was "When can I go? Do I get to sleep there? Do I get to take the bus there!?!?" Her excitement was obvious, and it made me happy.

We went to visit a small school here in Scarborough called "Our School" - it's right up the street from us. It was very homey, and it felt comfortable right away. Mairead fit right in. Most (actually, I think all the children come from stay at home mom/dad, which is important to me). She made her way around the classroom, and met a few students. She managed to sneak in a few paintings, and a craft with one of the teachers, too! When the teacher told me the tuition, I almost choked on my own spit.....$387/month. Ouch. Both Kevin and I have a hard time choking down that kind of money for preschool, but Mairead really wants to go. Later in the day, Mairead says "I'd like to go to school tomorrow without you.." I wonder if it will really be that easy!?!

After our visit to the school, we came home and got ready to go to the Portland Pirates hockey game in Portland. Kevin's office had a morale event, so we met some of Kevin's co-workers and one of Mairead & Lilah's good friends, Dylan there. They loved it! Mairead was jumping up and down, and Lilah even did great, too! Of course a little cotton candy helped for the kids, and a cold beer for mom and dad! Everyone was happy. I love it.

On our way home, everyone was tired. Lilah crashed before we even got home. Clara is napping, too. Kevin and I are home wondering if we'll be able to hit the slopes at Sunday River this weekend! Hoping a sitter, friends or my parents will be able to have some fun with us!

Clara laughs!

There is NOTHING like an infant belly laughing! I love it. It is probably one of my favorite milestones. It is so innocent and sweet. It doesn't take much to make them laugh! I could hear this sound over and over without ever getting tired of it!

Here is our little Clara laughing as mommy gets her to suck on her toes!

Manic Mondays!

Why can Mondays be so painful!?!

Every Monday I always ask myself what was I thinking signing Mairead up for a 1015am dance class!? It is at the most horrible time. I feel like as soon as we get out of bed we rush, rush, rush! This morning, Mairead was up at 7am, which is very early for her. When she wakes early, I know it's going to be a "whine, whine, whine" day...We're trying to teach her to stay in her room until it is time to "wake up", which is about 8am. We have an alarm clock in there, and when the radio goes off, she is allowed to come out of her room. She's getting better at it. For almost 4 years, she has woken up most mornings next to her momma. Kevin and I both feel it is time for her to wake up in her own bed. Lilah does it, and it's Mairead's time. I miss it though...

Once Mairead's alarm went off, she came and snuggled with me and Clara. It was great. I love the morning snuggle time with my girls. Once that was over, I jumped in the shower. Lilah was still asleep at this point. By 845am, Lilah was still asleep. I opened her door, and she eventually made her way into our bedroom....crabby. Ugh. I could see the writing on the wall. Mairead, whiney....Lilah, crabby....a recipe for fighting! She hopped into bed with Mairead, and they started fighting immediately. Lilah wanted this, Mairead wanted that, Lilah didn't have enough blankets, Mairead wanted more blankets......see the trend of the day starting? You know how I feel about whining! It immediately put me in whine overload.

We finally made our way downstairs, and they were hungry. We had a very early dinner yesterday, and  coupled with a fairly early bedtime, they were more than ready to eat this morning! Once breakfast was done, we had to get dressed and ready to head out to dance class. Once I got Lilah dressed, she was undressed and in dress up clothes! I was able to nurse Clara while the girls played for a few. The poor kid was ready to go down for her morning nap, but little did she know, the nap would be "on the go" today. It's tough because she doesn't even have time for a little cat nap.

We got to dance at 1010am. Surprised we weren't late! Lilah has a snack while she watches Mairead dance. She wants to participate so badly. I can't wait until she is old enough to dance. Once dance was over, we made our way to Hannaford to do a grocery run. The girls are so good in the grocery store! I am so thankful for that. People usually look at me like I am crazy for bringing three little children to the store by myself, but how else is the kitchen going to be stocked??? I also think it is important for them (all of them) to know how to behave out in public. Mairead walks, Lilah is in the cart, and I wear Clara in my fleece pouch from Kangaroo Korner. If they show good behavior, then they get to eat the dum-dum pop they got from the dance studio halfway through the store.

Once that was done, we headed home. The girls played......fought.......played......fought. Lilah was throwing things, and misbehaving. Mairead was upset that Lilah was throwing the toys she was playing with. Lunch finally came, and then nap/rest time.......ah, in the nick of time. Clara crashed! Lilah did, too! Mairead is now resting in our bedroom. I am so lucky all three of my girls nap/rest at the same time each day, it surely gives me time to regroup myself, have a little "me" time, and clean up the house.

I just had a nice, peaceful lunch, and hoping for a more enjoyable afternoon with my girls.