The Hippie Does Camp

We took the Hippie to her camp which was exactly 24 hours long.  We were so nervous dropping her off.  Leaving her was very difficult.  I was convinced we would be getting a call from the counselors, but she made it the whole time!!! They said she didn't say 10 words while she was there.  We were disappointed to hear that.  But she had a great time anyways!  They said they had never seen a kid have more fun than her. They said she never stopped smiling the entire time!  They were all in love with her (how could they not be????)!  All the teens were fawning over her and hugging her (she tends to bring this out in people).  They said she was so good but got a little aggressive when they played with water balloons! Ha!  This did not surprise us at all! LOL!  I am so pround of both our girls for having their first Christian Camp experiences!!!!

Finding the Balance

I can honestly say bringing home the third baby has been so much easier than the first two.  I know someone, it may have been my friend Belinda, told me the more you have the less impact it really makes to bring them home.  It has been true for us.  Both my husband and I are much more relaxed and we have a better idea of what to expect...what is realistic and what is wishful thinking!  It is still a daily effort to find the right balance.  Between a husband, two girls and a nursing baby...plus school, cooking, laundry etc.  I think slowly I am finding my new limits and each day the baby grows a little more content and seems to be on a fairly predictable schedule of nursing every three hours.  Today has been the best day by far!  The baby was up every three hours during the night (midnight, 3 and 6:30).  He ate and went right back to sleep.  This morning my husband had an early meeting so it was up to me to feed the remaining four of us.  The baby played on his activity gym thingy and I got breakfast for the girls and I and even had time to eat mine before he got fussy!  Then we all got changed and did school.  I came home and made lunch (a yummy chicken chili) and now the baby is napping and I have granola cooking!  I never would have been able to accomplish even this much when the girls were newborns!  Now if I could find time for some pictures.....  I am hoping this weekend we can do a photo shoot of the girls and their brother!  Check back over the weekend and we may have some posted!  Happy Friday everyone!!!!!

Adventures with a boy

I had my first "boy" moment the other morning.  The baby woke up and he was poopy.  So I decided to change his diaper alone.  Up to that point my husband had been helping.  Those with a newborn boy can relate to all the steps involved in those early diapers.  I had a washcloth covering his privates and was busy cleaning his bottom.  I start to remove the dirty diaper and he begins pooping again...managing to hit both the already dirty diaper and the changing pad as well.  I was ok with this and just shifted him around, cleaned his bottom (again) and put the clean diaper under him.  I got the alchohol for cleaning his cord.  Finished that and got the cream for his circumcision.  I had the lid off and was ready to squirt it on.  So I bravely removed the washcloth.  He promptly shot pee all over me.  It flew over my should and covered our comforter!  I actually found it quite humorous!  I went downstairs with my shirt still wet.  My husband was like, "What happened to you?"  I said, "there was a battle and the baby won. Oh and you may not want to go into our room!"  It was very funny!  My sweet husband then went and got everything cleaned up and in the wash for me so I could feed the baby.  I had to call my best friend Belinda, who is raising 5 wonderful boys, she was laughing and said that has happened to her even with her current baby boy!  I must admit that did make me feel better!
Other than that things are going amazingly well with our baby boy.  The girls are totally in love with him and always wanting to hold him and kiss him. In fact, they were disappointed that he cannot sleep in their room.  The Genius said to me, "Mommy, I know he cannot sleep with us now.  But when he sleeps all night long could he please share our room?  I know when he gets older he will not want to be in a princess room with us but until then could our brother be with us?"  How can you say no to that?  They do not seem jealous in the least and his crying does not bother them.  They just want to help make him feel better.  He is nursing really, really well and the past two nights has slept amazingly!  We have begun our adventures with cloth diapering as well.  We are already learning that we have favorite brands and some diapers just do not work with him.  He looks pretty cute with his diapers on too!  Later this week I will try and blog his birth story and more from he first days here with us.  Hope everyone is having a great week!

Baby 3 has arrived!!!

Time for some pictures of our wonderful baby boy and the VERY proud big sisters!!!! Enjoy!!!

Ahhh the adoring fans!!!!

Our handsome boy!!! Check out his smooth ride!

Newest member of the family

Family

The Genius had 4 family groups during her time at camp.  Each group was able to choose their own name.  I was asking her about it.  She told me the other three Family groups were called....."The Family of Christ", "The 12 Disciples" and "The Disciples".  So, I was left wondering...what name did her family group choose?  Ready for it.... "The PT Cruisers" LOL! My husband and I were laughing so hard!  We got so tickled at that!
We are rapidly approaching the end of the day and no action with the baby yet.  I have had several contractions today but nothing that felt very serious or anything.  Feel free to post some comments on guesses for his weight etc....  The girls were 8.5 and 8.7.  Will he be smaller, about the same or larger?  Our youngest was 2 weeks early and 8.7.  It could be interesting! 

Camping Queen

Yesterday evening we got to go and pick up the Genius from her 3 nights/4 days of church camp!  We were SO excited to go and get her!  We sent her letters and emails but had no contact with her during those days.  Between her Selective Mutism and needing to keep her scar covered with zinc the whole time we were plenty worried.  We went to the pick up area and walked in.  I spotted her sitting at a table.....talking to an adult!  Then the camp dean, nurse and a few others made a beeline for us to tell us that she started talking about 30 minutes after we left and DID NOT STOP the entire time!!!!  I could have cried I was so ecstatic!  What an answer to prayer!  She had a great time!  We loaded up her gear and she took us on a tour of the camp.  Her favorite parts were swimming, the canteen and the singing.  She did not like the food or the fact that they had to have a rest time every day.  I think her highlight was the second night of camp.  They took the kids to the pool around 10 p.m., put up a big screen projector and showed the movie "Cars" while the kids swam!  They were up until midnight!  After we had her in the car we asked if she wanted to go back and she said, "Whenever I can."  I said, "well how about tomorrow?"  She said, "No thanks,  I think I want my regular bedtime." She went to bed around 8 last night and woke up a few minutes after 8 today.  She was ready for some homemade granola and milk!  I think the poor girls about starved while she was at camp.  I guess 1 meal was so gross to her that she asked to make a peanut butter sandwich!  I am so thankful we were able to send her and so excited to see if she is reaching the end of her Selective Mutism.  The next camper will be the Hippie. She is going for 1 night.  Neither my husband nor I think she will make it through the night there, but she is excited to go so we shall see!
No baby boy yet, but he will be here within the next 12 days!