H - A - double L - O - W - double E - N

I was pretty behind the ball this year for Halloween. Not sure why exactly, but I just wasn't on top of costumes (or any of it really) so our costume selection process went as follows:

Handed Landon a costume catalogue we got in the mail, "Here guys, look in here and see what you want to be for Halloween." Returned to making dinner.

They both ended up on the princess page. Have I ever mentioned how much they love seeing the princesses at Disney World? They are the only characters who talk (Livia sang the ABC's with Cinderella this last time), and Landon always leaves with a face full of lip prints from all their kisses. Landon wanted to be Aurora and Livia wanted to be Cinderella. Hmmm...

Andy and I talked about it and decided why the heck not? If Livia wanted to be a football player I'd be spitting mad if someone told her she couldn't, so why couldn't the little man be Aurora? I was also kinda happy just to see the kid wanting to play pretend. He's often a pretty serious little guy. We decided that since we had a trip to Disney planned we'd get the costumes there.

At Disney, however, Landon thought the pirate accessories were oh-so-cool (especially the compass- another of his obsessions is orienteering), and he just couldn't decide between pirate or princess. We compromised by getting him the less expensive costumes for both, while Livia, who was steadfast in her desire, got the super fancy Cinderella gown with glass slippers to boot.

Leading up to Halloween, Landon's costume selection rotated daily, and I guess two options weren't enough for him because he then started telling people he was going to be a dinosaur. I was not going to buy a dinosaur costume.

While I was ok with him dressing up as a princess in theory, on the big night I was a little nervous about what the neighbors' reactions might be if he headed out as a princess, but I resisted the urge to sway him toward pirate. Andy was actually the true champion in this one, "Who cares, Lisa? Let him play."

We ended up with a splash of both. My favorite memory from that night is Andy rounding up the kids at our neighbor's post trick-or-treating cider party by shouting out, "I need both of my beautiful princesses! Let's go!"

Our princess pirate.
He still hates having his picture taken with the flash so coaxing a smile out is nearly impossible.

Cinderlley, Cinderelly

And Tigger, too!

This year I gave each kid a marker and had them draw anything they wanted on their  pumpkins. Then we carved out their designs. I overheard a little trick-or-treater remark while walking away from out door, "Wow, these people really know how to carve!" 

Admiring her creation

P is for Pig

Landon has been going through this phase the last few months where every day he decides on a new name for himself. Some days it's Pig, some days it's Elephant, yesterday it was Nine Nonillion (yep, still obsessed with numbers).

We took them to Build-a-Bear for Livia's birthday in May and he told the girl helping us that his name was Elephant. Now his Build-a-Bear kitty has an "E" as his initial on its tag.

Sometimes in the morning I'll ask him to do something and he'll say, "But Mommy, you got my name wrong! I make a sssssssssss sound today."
"Oh, ok, Snake, please go brush your teeth."

At school he's supposed to sign in every day. I had to have a talk with him about the fact that he needs to write "Landon" or else his teachers would get confused (although I feel a little like this is already allowing school to squelch his burgeoning creativity. Maybe we need to move to Finland). His reply, "I want them to be confused!" We compromised that he would write "Landon" when he signed in, but when he did his journal page he could write whatever name he wanted. So far he's been Pig, Monkey, Elephant, Flamingo, and, of course, Nine Nonillion.

Earlier this week I took them to the park. He started playing with a couple little boys, and I overheard one of them say, "Hey Pick, follow me!" I watched a little longer and realized that the boys were definitely calling him Pick. And he was responding. Apparently he told them his name was Pig. I guess they reasoned that surely no one would be named Pig, so Pick it must be.

Hooray For Auntie. And Grandma

I don't know how many times, when I'm at home alone with my 3 kids, the saying "It takes a village" comes to mind and I think, "No freaking kidding. I totally need a village."

Andy left for a deployment about 2 months ago, and I am so grateful for the "village" of family who showed up help us survive the first half of his absence. 

There is a very small handful of people who I trust with my babies. And an even smaller group who will not only happily help out, but who I can hand my less than happy littlest baby off to so that I can take care of one of the others. Harrison is normally a very content little man, but, like most babies, if he's tired or hungry he's not shy about letting us know. I can't count the number of times I needed to hand my hungry/tired/ or both baby boy off to my sister or mom with an "Oh by the way he's poopy"  so I could attend to one of the others, and I am so ridiculously grateful for the loving way they always accepted the crying, stinky little bundle into their arms.

Really wish she was just down the street

Don't want to forget Grandpa

We miss you already!

Two Year Old Logic

Today Livia was playing with Legos. She was getting frustrated because she couldn't get her Lego girl to sit properly in the pet shop she had built, and I couldn't help because I was nursing Harrison. 

After handing me the girl to look over (because there was nothing else I could do at the moment), she took the girl back and sat down to try again. After another failed attempt she stopped, carefully examined the girl's bent legs, thought for a minute, spit on them, then successfully perched the girl where she wanted her. 

Problem solved. Two year old style.  

Legos aren't the only things she puts in her mouth...

In other news...

Harrison is rolling from his back to his belly

Landon has really warmed up to the little guy

Olympic diving was a big hit at our house.

Getting in position

not so synchronized

but high scores none the less. 

It's Not Easy Being the Baby

When I posted this picture on Facebook, my cousin Ryan commented, "That kid doesn't stand a chance." 


At the time it just made me smile because Ryan is funny like that and because seeing wee little Harrison next to Landon and Livia  makes them look like giants (although Livia is  actually closer in age to Harrison than she is to Landon- weird). 


Lately, however, I've been thinking he might have been onto something. Maybe he has some  added insight since he is the baby brother himself.  


Life as the baby means lots of big sister love. Unfortunately, big sister squeezes often come with a big sister finger in the eye, mouth, nose, ear, or any combination of those, and, more often than not, consist of big sister not only laying her body weight on baby, but also adding a little squeeze to show just how much she loves him. And big sister concern about baby crying usually results in a pacifier shoved into baby's mouth sideways and with all the "gentle" force a 2 year old thinks is necessary to get the dang thing to stay in there. And big sister serenading (which as far as she in concerned requires hand holding) sometimes results in a very unintentional, but still just as upsetting, big sister foot to the head. Poor guy. 

Trying to breathe through some sister squeezes

He actually wasn't even crying this time.
She just thought he might like a little paci action

Singing to him cannot commence until hands are grasped to her satisfaction.
Sometimes it takes a few tries for her to get it how she likes it, so she'll keep switching sides until their hand position feels right.  

  
Life as the baby also means being exposed to big brother germs. The mostly harmless bug big brother brings home from school, which just causes a mild cough and runny nose in the biggers, brings on a mild cough, a runny nose, and a fever for the baby. And a fever for the 7ish week old results in a pediatrician ordered trip to the ER, where baby is poked and prodded in all sorts of ways that make baby (and mommy) cry, just so they can tell us that he probably has the same mild cold as big brother and sister. 

They put an IV in my baby's head!
(Caroline, you are a strong woman. I only had to put up with this for 3 hours, and I was a wreck.)

It sure is rough being the baby.

But he doesn't seem to mind it too much. 

I never said it wasn't hard...

Oxytocin is a dangerous thing. It makes me really happy and really love my babies, and I'm fairly certain it's to blame for my sudden desire to have just one more. It's not that I forgot how uncomfortable being pregnant was. It's just that now, holding this little baby, it all seems so darn worth it. Can you be addicted to having babies? (Gina, I actually believe you might be able to answer this question.) If so, I probably need a 12 step program- at least until nursing slows down and I have a little less of this happy hormone coursing through my body. 

I just love that face

Having Harrison is amazing. I love watching the older kids with him, I love that he's part of our family, I love that he'll grow up so close in age to his siblings, I love the chaos that this closeness will surely create. But he's a newborn. And I don't think life with a newborn is ever easy. And life with a newborn and an almost 2 year old and an almost 4 year old is absolutely NOT easy. It's a juggling act. It's exhausting. And sometimes it makes me feel like a really terrible mom. In fact, I very rarely feel like a good mom to all three of them at once. I just hope that the relationships they'll have with each other will make up for my failings. 

She really loves that guy.
Is it still considered regressing if she never actually
 took a pacifier when she was a baby?

Today was my first solo outing since Harrison was born. I'm still taking baby steps. I went while Landon was in school, so technically I was just a mom of a newborn and an almost 2 year old at the time. Livia, Harrison, and I met up with some friends for lunch. We made it through lunch with no crying, I successfully nursed Harrison and kept control of Livia, everyone was fed, happy, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself as we went to pick Landon up from school (I hate the back and forth to school because it takes so much time and effort to get every one in and then out and then back in the car just to drop him off/ pick him up). We made it into his classroom, gathered up his things, and started back out to the car. I was just thinking to myself how easy it all seemed when Landon started giggling as we were walking down the hallway, 

Me: What's so funny, Little Man?

Landon: He, he, he. 

Me: What?

Landon: WHERE'S THE DAUGHTER?!? he, he, he.  

Me: (panic. Oh crap. I forgot Livia.)

I totally left her behind, playing in his classroom. I'm sure I would have figured it out for myself. Eventually. 

I realize Landon is under represented in these photos,
but the child is really not into having his picture taken

Already!

A little update

We're almost 4 weeks in to this new life and, so far, so good. We're settling into the new normal, and aside from getting a lot less sleep, a lot less exercise, and a lot less house work done, things really aren't that different. Harrison fits right in, just like he was supposed to be here all along.

He's really a great little guy. He caught on to nursing with no problems, he's napping like a champ, and he's really kind to us a night- only waking up twice to eat and mostly going right back to sleep once he's had his fill. I'm delighted by all the wonders of having a newborn that I apparently forgot about. I'm thrilled when I notice him getting stronger during tummy time, I melt when he makes eye contact while nursing, I love all his little newborn squeaks and grunts, and Andy and I are bonding over our shared obsession with his poo. (I think this is why a baby can bring a happy couple closer together... Who else in the world is going to care as much about my child's bowel movements?)

Playing with Daddy

Livia has taken on the role of big sister with enthusiasm. She's as smitten with him as I am. She sings to him, gives him kisses, holds his hand, comforts him when he cries ("He's crying! He's tired, Mommy, he's tired."), and makes sure his pacifier is never far from his mouth. She's always extra interested in him when I'm nursing, and I'm pretty sure she's not satisfied with the job I'm doing because she's always trying to take him away from me while I feed him ("I need to hold him, Mommy. I need him"). It's so sweet to watch her with him, and I'm really looking forward to seeing their relationship evolve as he changes.

She took him from me because she "needed" him

My crazy girl trying out Landon's underwear-
we've been spending A LOT of time at home and I think they might be getting a little bored...

Landon is very much himself about the whole thing. He's never been the most social or touchy-feely kind of guy, and his approach to Harrison has been very matter-of-fact, except he's making up the "facts" as we go. He spent the first week and a half calling Harrison Over. Now he's switched and decided Harrison's name is, in fact, Weston. If we call him Harrison while talking to Landon, Landon will correct us. He even told his teachers at school that we named the baby Weston, which had them pretty confused since Andy had already told them the name was Harrison. The little stinker will start to call him Harrison, catch himself, then switch to Weston mid sentence, "Where is Harris... uh, oh, WESTON going to sleep?" Livia had to force herself on Landon to get him to accept her (which suits her personality just fine) and I have a feeling she's going to be the bridge between the two boys. She already includes Harrison whether Landon's interested or not. I've even caught Landon sneaking Harrison a little kiss just after Livia had been loving on him, probably just trying to figure out what all the fuss is about.

Landon's not usually game for me taking a picture of him period, so no luck getting a picture of him with Harrison

Livia, on the other hand, rushes to be next to Harrison anytime I try to take her picture-
I was just trying to get the shot of her in Landon's underwear but she ran over and laid down next to Harrison