First this. Then this.

First, this happened...

A MOUSE ate a hole through D's car seat cover when I had it in the garage for about a week.

I discovered this as I went to reinstall it in the van. So, needless to say, after freaking out about the grossness of a mouse being in my garage - and in D's seat (ewww....) - I realized I'd need to play the "car seat shuffle" once again.

Then this...

I have a total of 6 seats.

Two for each child.

We have 2 vehicles, so this makes sense to me (and its how I justify it to my hubby).

The end results was putting the baby back in the infant bucket seat and rear facing D AGAIN in the baby's new seat - a Radian. This was the easiest of the shuffling since the Radian was already installed. He fits pretty well! And at just 30lbs, he is still WELL within the 45lb rear facing weight limit.

Check out where he puts his legs. He cracks me up :-) Plus, he and C love to see each other and play "footsie" while we drive. Haha!

And just for fun :-)

*Disclaimer*

For those of you who think I am "extreme" for my weirdness about carseat safety, I will mention that the reason I decided to flip D around again is because I read about a family who was involved in a wreck. Their 2 1/2 year old forward facing toddler was killed, but their 8 month old rear-facer was completely unharmed. Of course, I don't know all the details of the wreck, but to me, its not worth the chance. I would never in a million years forgive myself if something unthinkable happened to D when I had the knowledge and the equipment to fully protect him and his precious little neck and head. :-) Just my $.02

Third Baby

"Is he your first?"

"No, he's my third. I have a 5 year old daughter and 2 1/2 year old son too. "

This is pretty much a standard conversation when people see me walking around with N strapped to my chest in one of my baby carriers. (On the rare occasion when I don't have my other two ducklings following behind me, of course.)

The problem is that I wish I could add more.

"He may be my third, but he is every bit as special as my first and second. He is not simply one more child in my kid clan. He is created by God, loved by me and his dad, and he is just about as perfect as they come."

I think every baby should be celebrated - not because moms and dads need MORE baby products for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th babies, but because each baby is special and unique.

N is different from C and D. He is an easier baby. He is my only exclusively breastfed baby. He likes to fall asleep on my chest. He likes his bouncy seat. He doesn't like the car seat. He smiles a wide mouth smile. He doesn't have much hair. He has a very round head and his thighs have a bit of a roll on them. He weighs 13lbs. He loves baths, his paci, being rocked, sleeping swaddled, and having his hand up by his ear.

He is a gift. A blessing unlike any other. He is my son.

My third baby - but my only N.

The Thumb

THUMBS

Oh the thumb-sucker’s thumb

May look wrinkled and wet

And withered, and white as the snow,

But the taste of a thumb

Is the sweetest taste yet

(As only we thumb-suckers know).

Shel Silverstein

No Surprise

I am quite passionate about some things. You should know this by now. In case you live under a rock, those things would be safety, cloth diapers, and my kiddos....oh, and strollers.

There are, of course, things I am not passionate about at all. Like, bikes, insects, and sewing for instance.

I like to classify my passions into two groups...

1. Things that only I care about that don't affect you at all...basically, I could care less if you share these passions or not.

-This would be my love of cloth diapering, obsession with strollers, and well, my own personal children.

2. Things I am passionate about that do affect you and your family. Basically, things I think you should be passionate about too!

-Best example of this is my passion for safety. Mostly car safety and SIDS prevention (something I don't write about often, but still care about very much). These are things that I think every parent should research and and form their own opinions on AFTER doing proper research.)

Today I want to add a new passion to the first list.

Babywearing!

Is it any surprise that by my third child, I have come to realize that I need my hands free? I am not an octopus, so I cannot hold my baby in one hand and make lunch for the older two with the other.

With both the previous children, I would have said, "put the baby down and let him/her fuss while you get done what needs to be done." That was the way I have previously parented.

BUT, with baby no. 3, things are totally different. First of all, he's my baby. THE baby of our family. I want to carry him and tote him around as much as possible. I want him to learn that I am his mommy and that he can always trust me to hold him, rock him, and tend to his needs. When he cries for anyone else in the world, I want to walk in the room and hold him in my arms and have him immediately relax and calm down.

Maybe I am selfish for wanting that. But I don't really care. He's my baby and thats how I am going to do it. If I complain about him being glued to me when he's 2, you can reference this blog entry. I will then shut my mouth.

I have also done much research (surprise surprise!) about the benefits of babywearing in a proper ergonomic carrier. After having a variety of different carriers with C and D, I had no idea that toting a baby around could be SO comfortable! And most importantly, SO good for my baby's and my own emotional well being. I feel good wearing him. And he loves being tucked up close to me.

Here are a few pictures of our baby wearing adventure...

His first time in our Beco Butterly II. He was 4 or 5 days old.

And at 9 days old...at the National Harbor Build a Bear

In a cheap Seven Slings Sling. I wouldn't recommend this sling because N got too big for it VERY quickly (I assume most babies will outgrow this sling quickly. You'd probably have to buy a variety of sizes). If you want mine, let me know. I will send it to you for just the cost of shipping :-)

Getting bigger in the Beco!!!

And in our new Sleeping Baby Productions Ring Sling...ahhh, comfort and LOVE!!

Snoozing on me for a brief morning nap.

Hands Free Nursing! Say WHAT??? Yes, its true!

The sling doubles as a blanket when I slip him out of after he conks out.

Raising the next generation of baby wearers...C and "Purple Baby"

"Put me to bed, mommy..."

N-12 weeks and counting

My little baby is now 12 weeks old.

He weighs in right at 12lbs 2oz.

He is still the most pleasant and easiest baby I have ever known.

He sleeps though the night.

He eats about 7 times a day.

I am captivated by him and his gentle spirit.

I just wanted to share a few recent pictures of him and his sweetness...some are for you, some are for me. I can't stop looking at him. Or holding him :-)

In his new bouncy seat...a gift from a friend of ours whose daughter didn't like it. It bounces all by itself. Its awesome!

Snuggled up with me in his new baby carrier - a ring sling. I'm still figuring out how to adjust it and wear him in different positions, but he seems to be enjoying just being worn at all.

Babywearing Perfection...

His first case of pink eye. You can't see it too well in this picture, but his left eye got really gunky and turned a light pink. This was a gift from his brother and sister who also had it this week....

Am I the Only One?

Am I the only one whose couch looks like this 4 days out of the week?

And whose kitchen sink/counter looks like this until well past dinner/bath/bedtime?

Please tell me your house looks like this too...I am really trying not to let it bother me that there is clutter and clean laundry piled up everywhere. And that my kids' toys tend to carry themselves out of the playroom and into my kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and car.

I really WANT to put that laundry away. But, my hands are tied up. This afternoon it was my littlest that needed some extra rocking before he'd settle down for a nap. After I rocked, bounced, and fed him, he finally pooped a ton and felt much better. He just fell asleep...

Now I don't want to put him down.

Maybe I'll just sit here and stare at this view instead of the laundry and kitchen view.

I like it better anyway :-)

Workout Update!

So, apparently, its been a month since I began my Chalean Extreme Round 2 - Regain Pre-Pregnancy Body.

I wish I had amazing news to report, but alas, I don't. I haven't been very faithful in my workouts for a variety of reasons (B went out of town and left me alone with the kids...ahh! We had company for a week, etc, etc...) but I have done somewhat better with my eating. Not A LOT better. But somewhat.

In the last month, I have lost 5.2 lbs and 2.5 inches. Fortunately, those inches came from my hips and rear end! Unfortunately, they didn't come from my waist. I am beginning to think I may NEVER fit back in my old jeans.

I do plan to do better with my workouts because I know that history DOES indeed repeat itself. I know that muscle burns fat, so to burn fat, I need to build muscle. Bring on the big weights!

The tricky part is working around the baby's evening schedule. He eats right around the time I put the big kids to bed. Then he is awake and alert while I work out. This often leads to him getting bored staring at me from the bouncy seat. I guess watching me huff and puff while doing slow weight repetitions just must not be that exciting for a baby :-)

But have no fear, I can still do it all (sort of)! As soon as I flip off the workout DVD, I am back in mom-mode. Tonight my arms, chest, and legs were still shaking from the workout when B handed me our fussy baby. Little N immediately settled down in my arms even though I felt like a sweaty pig. He didn't seem to mind. He just wanted his mama to rock him. So sweet.

More updates to come! I hope I have even more success next month!

Happy Birthday Oma!

Tomorrow is my 29th birthday.

Really, I promise. I REALLY am turning 29!

But today is special too. For the last 29 years, my Oma's birthday has been the day before mine.

So, today when I woke up and realized my birthday is tomorrow, I remembered my Oma's birthday is TODAY!

I figured it would be a perfect day to drive down to Quantico National Cemetary with the kids and take a few moments to remember my Oma (and Opa too!) on what would have been her 75th birthday!

Here are a few pictures from today. I must say, it really touches my heart to see my kids at the cemetery learning about life, death, heaven, funerals, the military, and respect.

I miss you guys...

How Kids Play

Do your kids sit on their freshly made beds in the middle of the day and read a book or hold a soccer ball?

Mine don't.

C would be coloring in the book...or cutting it up and making something out of it. And D, well, he would throw that ball at C.

This is how kids REALLY play.

D was napping and C was playing all by herself in the playroom. Wearing a Lowe's apron. Disassembling their little couch. Making some sort of odd bridge with every large thing in the room.

Oh, and we have laundry on our couch. Thats real life.

Take that Pottery Barn. Give those poor kids some real toys and let them PLAY!

Goodbye

Ahhh, Goodbyes...

Don't we all hate them?

I feel like thats all I ever do these days though. Everyone says, "its part of being in the military," but I don't know if that actually helps.

After all, deployments are "just a part of the military," as well, and they still suck big-time!

When we found out that we'd be moving here to the Washington DC area, I was SO excited that we'd be here for at least 4 years. That meant NO goodbyes for 4 glorious years!!

Or so I thought. Foolishly.

Just because I am not going anywhere doesn't mean my friends don't leave. I have been here just shy of a year and have already had to say goodbye to one amazing friend. At the end of the summer, I will say good-bye to three more great friends from church. I have one other friend who may or may not leave in October...

Its horrible. I still think of my Ft. Bragg friends all the time. I wonder what they're doing. Seeing pictures on facebook of their families in their homes doing things just like they did when I was there leaves me sad. I wish I could be there with them.

Sure, the internet is great. I get to see what everyone is up to and see their kids growing bigger and bigger, but it is never the same. Never.

My little C summed it up for D pretty well when his first ever best friend was about to move across the country. I tried to sugar coat it and tell him his friend was "moving to a new house far away...too far for us to go over and play."

C must have gotten frustrated with the way I was saying it because she told her brother, "He is moving away. You will NEVER see him again!"

It makes me tear up to type that because in the bottom of my heart, I know she is right. She hasn't seen her sweet friends from Ft. Bragg since we left a year ago. I can recall crying like a baby when I said goodbye to my friends there as well. As B drove away from my one friend's house, I cried in the passenger seat. C was bawling in the back. My dear friend was on her front porch waving...and crying just as hard as me. It was pretty much just like you would picture it in a movie.

Unless the Lord brings us back together, we may never see them again. (Oddly enough, He actually DID do that for me and one of my friends from Ft. Bragg! She lives about 5 minutes away from me up here near DC - crazy!)

All the moving, and saying goodbye has made every goodbye that much harder. I just hate them.

I couldn't have been prepared for how my sister and I would react when we parted last October when she came to visit. I never thought I'd be SO distraught to say goodbye to her. She and I cried. A lot.

Then again when we left Atlanta last month, more tears between my sister and me. I can't explain it. We live so far apart. Her 3 month old (at the time) will be 10 months old when I see him again. I hate that so much.

Even when my sister-in-law left last week. I was nice and strong as we said goodbye and gave hugs and kisses. My kids and I went outside to wave as they drove off and then as we walked back inside, I was overcome with sadness once again. The tears fell and it was all I could do to hide them from my kids.

I think, with regards to my family, the goodbyes are so hard because we have to go in such huge intervals in seeing each other. I won't see my family again until Christmas. We may even have seen snow here in DC by then. This 92 degree weather makes snow seem REALLY far off. That makes me so sad. It makes me feel so alone.

This has been on my mind a lot lately because of my friends from church leaving so soon. I dread those last hugs.

Here is D with his first-ever best friend on the day we said goodbye.

And C with her Ft. Bragg girlfriends. She still talks about these girls a year after saying goodbye.