Getting out

We couldn't have timed Casey's birth any better. His airline retired the MD-80 two days after he was born... so Adam has been able to have paternity leave until his training for the 737 began last Thursday. He has still been going to work at the squadron to keep up his currency for the military (he's getting promoted to major on October 1!), but he has been able to help out a lot with the kids.

That is changing quickly. He will be in training for the 737 until the end of November and his schedule is getting more packed by the day. My goal was just to make it through the day by myself, knowing he would be home before dinner to help and play with the boys. Now that it's turning into full-time, I decided that I would have to venture out with the three kids if I was going to keep my sanity.

Getting out of the house hasn't been too bad so far. If I time it right and Casey is sleeping, then I really just have the two boys to juggle. So we've been grocery shopping with Jacob and Gavin steering the cart and Casey in his car seat up top. Last night, I needed a break so we went to McDonald's to let Jacob and Gavin play while I held Casey. We've also been to several doctor appointments and parks to play.

We're making it so far... but I think it's going to be a LONG three months. Having the kids all day and all night is definitely a lot on my plate. We did buy a playset for the backyard from our neighbors though, so that definitely helps!


Since those pictures, Adam stained everything, built a roof for the top, and bought two new swings and a baby swing. Not bad, huh? It's almost like new!
Also, I took my friend to the So You Think You Can Dance tour at the Tacoma Dome for her birthday. It was so much fun to get out and see these incredible dancers in real life. We never have a night out without the kids, so we had a great time together.

Sleepy baby

Casey still sleeps A LOT during the day. Thank goodness it doesn't keep him from sleeping during the night. :) One of my favorite things is falling asleep with him on my tummy. There are moments when I'm holding him close and can feel my heart melt a little. I think I'm trying to freeze time, even for a few seconds, because I know these precious moments won't last long.

Here are the many things I love about having a newborn.

1. How soft their skin is. I can't help but brush my cheek against Casey every chance I get.

2. Newborn feet. They are so cute, soft, and perfect when they've never been used! My friend took a picture of our wedding rings around Casey's little toes. Too adorable.

3. Someone once told me they loved the smell of baby breath. I never thought about it before, but I smelled Casey's breath... and she's right, it does smell pretty sweet.

4. When Casey stretches, his lips pucker out and his little eyebrows rise to the top of his forehead.

5. How he puts his tiny fist up against his cheek as he sleeps.

6. Their sucking instinct. I like watching it through the hole in his binky and when he drops the binky... and is still sucking.

7. When they shake their little head when nursing in order to latch on.

8. How Casey's legs automatically curl into his chest when I pick him up.

9. When they grab onto your big finger with their tiny fingers.

10. Casey will hiccup or sneeze and then have the cutest cooing sound afterward.

It seems like one day, you just realize they aren't doing these cute things anymore. You're not sure when it happened... so you have to soak it up while they're still doing it. :)

I spend all of my time...

cuddling up with my mommy
rapping with my daddy
staring at familiar faces
getting cuddles and kisses from my big brother Gavin

and from my biggest brother Jacob

I'm pretty sure they all love me!

Starting Preschool

We went to meet Jacob's new preschool teacher last week. She seems really nice and the assistant teacher goes to our church, so it was great to already know her.

Last year, Jacob went to the same preschool and had an absolutely wonderful experience. There were only nine students in his class, so to walk in and see eighteen this year... that's a lot of four year-olds! There are about five who were in his class last year and the rest are all new friends to meet.


Jacob re-connected with Willow, since his little friend Kelsey Ann isn't in his class this year
Their class mascot is the elephants

I was talking with the mom of the little girl Jacob is playing with in this picture. She has one son in first grade, and three girls who are the same exact age as Jacob, Gavin, and little Casey!

Here are some pictures of his first day... in this one, the sun was a little too bright. It's still cute to me though. ;)
They drew a self-portrait upon arriving. Jacob drew him and Gavin, with their arms wrapped all the way around each other. It was a little embarrassing to see that he had included little lines for their penis... but I'm sure it will be funny later, right?
Jacob with his mommy
This little girl next to Jacob is Tayte. He wrote her name on his self-portrait too.
Gavin loved being in there and Jacob's teacher even mistakingly thought he was in her class! Just a little big for a two year-old, huh?

An eventful morning

So this morning was not what I expected it to be. I thought we would have a relaxing morning, make breakfast, play together, and maybe go to the park or something. It turned into a trip to the doctor's office for Jacob and almost for Casey too.

The story began on Monday, right before we went to the fair. Adam was coming up the driveway on his motorcycle and Jacob ran out to greet him. All of a sudden, he was crying and we saw that he had scraped his leg on the motorcycle. I thought he had burned his leg for a second, but Adam was pretty sure he just scraped it. So Jacob ran upstairs to get a Scooby-doo bandaid and we left for the fair.

Yesterday, I noticed that his leg looked pretty bruised around his bandaid. I thought it was odd so I pulled off the bandaid, and this is what I saw...

It took everything inside not to completely panic. A little scratch turned into this?! I immediately made an appointment at Woodcreek and got the boys in the car. On the way out, I gave them each a bag of pretzels to eat. As I'm driving, I hear little Gavin's voice. "Cas-ey eat prezzel. YUMMEE!" Oh no... he did not just feed him a pretzel?! I pulled over to the side of the road and found that there was indeed a goldfish pretzel that filled up Casey's entire mouth. How scary is that?! I guess at least I learned a lesson not to give the boys any sort of food or candy in the car anymore.

The pediatrician gave Jacob some burn ointment and an antibiotic. That way, he was covered whether it was a burn or an infection. So hopefully, it gets better soon. What a day!

The Puyallup Fair

OK, so I know I'm a little crazy going to the fair just two weeks after having a baby. It was free for military families though, so it made sense to go even if we only stayed for a little bit. Someone sold us their ride tickets inside the gate for half price too, so it was a pretty cheap event!

I have to admit though, the evening was pretty insane. Gavin didn't take a nap that day, so he was crying about something almost constantly. Jacob was so excited about the rides that he was darting around a mile a minute. Thankfully, little Casey mostly just slept... except when I changed his diaper and Gavin tripped on top of him. We came home exhausted to say the least!

Gavin made it half-way through this ride before crying anyway.
Here we are on the "seat" of the merry-go-round again!
I just love this ride... it looks like they're driving off into the sunset together.
It's so much fun having a brother to go on all the rides with!
Except when he's crying and doesn't make it on ;)
We met up with our friends so Jacob and Kailey could go on a few rides together

That was pretty much all that we got to, but I think that will be enough for us this year! :)

Check-up

So I'm getting the hang of being a mom of three. Although my mom and grandma were here the last two days, so that really helped. Today Casey and Gavin took a four hour nap at the same time and it was the most peaceful afternoon ever. My vote is for the simultaneous nap everyday... or at least once a week would be greatly appreciated. ;) I have to admit, I am WAY too scared to go anywhere in public with three kids yet. I know it's only a matter of time, but I'm putting it off as long as possible. I can wait until Adam gets home to run errands, right? ;)

Here is the latest with our three boys...

Casey ~ has decided that the bassinet is no longer working for him. We had been swaddling and putting him in the bassinet in-between feedings at night and it seemed to be going well... until a few nights ago. He would cry, we would give him his binky, it would fall out five minutes later, he would cry, we would give him his binky, it would fall out again. We realized that when we lay him to nap in his boppy during the day, he loves it. So last night, we put him in his boppy to sleep and it worked like a charm!

Gavin ~ has been really good with Casey, considering he is two. The only mishap was when I was talking on the phone and noticed that he was piling books on top of Casey in his bassinet. He just thought he was being a super good boy to share his books. ;) Although he has been acting up a little bit more than usual since Casey has been home, all-in-all he is handling all of the changes pretty well.

Jacob ~ is fascinated with Casey and loves to kiss and hold him. For the most part, he tries to be gentle but sometimes he gets excited and ends up being a little too rough. His all-around behavior is incredible though, which I am extremely grateful for. I have to add a few funny things he has been saying lately:

*Singing ~ This Little Light of Mine ~
(Combining don't let Satan blow it out and let it shine 'til Jesus comes) "Don't let Satan Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine!"

*When I was at the hospital, all I could eat was ice after Casey was just born. So when Jacob was at his grammy's house a few days later, he asked what I was doing (on the phone). I told him that I was eating dinner. He said, "Ohhh. You're eating ice?"

*Jacob loves learning the names of our states and has a state puzzle that he is always putting together. The other night when we were eating dinner, he held up his chicken nugget and exclaimed, "Look Mommy! It's Georgia!" I was amazed to see that it actually was the shape of Georgia. Only our son... seriously.

*Our upstairs loft looks out onto our living room, so Adam and I will throw things up to each other so we don't have to go up the stairs. I know, pretty lazy huh? Anyway, Jacob was asking where his Shamu was when we were tucking him in. I told him not to worry, that I would go downstairs and throw him up. He looked at me with big eyes and said, "Mommy! Don't throw up Shamu!"

Back together again

Adam went to pick up Jacob and Gavin on Saturday, so our house went from quiet to chaotic very quickly. :) They didn't get home until 10:00 that night, so I'm not sure if the next day was due to coping with all of the change or just pure exhaustion. Probably both. Thank goodness Adam was home though because we had to deal with more than a few power struggles throughout the day.

The next morning went a lot more smoothly, but Gavin woke up after his nap with a fever and proceeded to throw up on me a few hours later. Niiice. A new baby, sick two-year old, and four-year old who needs more attention than ever.

So today was the first day that Adam went to work and I was all by myself. I don't necessarily feel like three children is a lot more work in itself. Casey is a really good baby and usually only cries when its time for him to eat. It's just that Jacob and Gavin can be pretty high maintenance all on their own, so adding a 30 minute feeding every three hours feels like a lot.

Here is a look at our busy day... I didn't want Jacob and Gavin to feel a lack of attention because of the baby, so I made extra effort to play with both of them. A lot.

8:00~ Both boys are up and head to the couch with Toodles and Shamu.
8:30~ Feed Casey.
9:00~ Make breakfast for Jacob and Gavin.
9:30~ Manage to do the dishes and get one load of laundry folded while the boys play.
10:30~ Give the boys a bath since I didn't get a chance the night before.
11:00~ Feed Casey.
11:30~ Make lunch for Jacob and Gavin.
12:00~ Read stories with Gavin on his leap pad.
12:30~ Put Gavin to bed for a nap and lay down for a few minutes while Jacob quietly plays.
1:30~ Realize that Gavin is not going to nap today, so I let him get up.
2:00~ Feed Casey.
2:30~ Gavin gets out dinosaur stamps, so I help Jacob and Gavin make a picture with them.
3:30~ Get kids in their swimming suits and let them splash in the pool.
4:30~ Start getting dinner ready.
5:00~ Adam and the boys eat while I nurse Casey.
5:30~ Adam takes Gavin and goes to the store to get the final supplies for our sprinkler system.
6:00~ Talk to my job share partner on the phone to find out how open house went.
6:30~ Lay Casey on a blanket and take lots of pictures.
7:30~ Feed Casey.
8:00~ Put everyone to bed and collapse on the couch.
8:30~ Adam takes me outside to show me his backyard version of the Bellagio, each sprinkler set to come on at a different time. He did it... I was so impressed!

So life is a little crazy... I guess it always was, it might just be a little bit more now. But I love my three boys and wouldn't change a thing.