9.06.2012

Luke: 4 weeks

Luke is 4 weeks old today.
I can't believe it has already been 4 weeks, but on the other hand, it feels like he has always been here.
Time is funny like that.
I decided to do a little project & take a picture of Luke everyday of his first year of life.
I have named it "The Daily Luke"
Here is a snapshot of his first 28 days of life.
{Days 1, 2, 3 & 4}

It has been 4 weeks of change for our family.
Getting used to having a newborn again is brutal when you haven't had a newborn in your home for almost 4 years. I forgot what it is like to wake up every 2-3 hours at night.
So, so, tiring. But the baby snuggles are worth it.
{Days 5, 6, 7 & 8}

The girls are 19 months apart & I remember how hard that first year was. Claire's first year is like a blur. I thought this would be so much easier because Kate is 5.5 and Claire is almost 4.
In many respects, it is easier, because they play so well together and are self sufficient.
But, they are SO obsessed with Luke (which is a good thing) but they always want to be touching him or holding him and they aren't *quite* old enough to do that without supervision. And, last week, both girls had a runny nose/cold and it was hard to tell them they couldn't touch him/hold him. I didn't want him getting sick, so I wouldn't let them hold him for a few days and that was hard.
{Days 9, 10, 11 & 12}

Add in the fact that besides a new baby, we have a lot of other change that has gone on the past few weeks....Kate starting Kindergarten last week & Claire starting Preschool this week. There is a lot of new things going on for them, which makes their emotions (and mine) a little out of whack. When I had Claire, Kate wasn't in school, so it was very "relaxing" having a newborn because we had no agenda and could lounge around the house. But now, with both girls in school, there is a lot of rushing in the morning trying to get out of the house on time, dropping the girls off and picking them up.
{Days 13, 14, 15 & 16}

With the girls, my days were spent in 3 hour increments, waiting for the next feeding. But with Luke, it is a lot of scheduling when I can feed him because I need to make sure it coincides with drop off & pick ups. It's been a little nuts trying to figure out our new normal.
{Days 17, 18, 19 & 20}

The good news is that Luke is a super chill baby (so far!)
He goes with the flow, isn't too fussy and is overall pretty mellow.
The good thing about being the 3rd kid is that you get toted along to everything, so far Luke has been to our anniversary dinner, 3 birthday parties, a block party & a baby shower.
He is definitely getting socialized :)
{Days 21, 22, 23, &24}

I have also realized that with 3 kids, I just can't get it all done & that's okay.
I am trying to cut myself some slack. My house is messier than I want it to be, I have been making sub-par dinners and Claire's birthday party is Saturday and I have never been this unprepared for a party. I have a little guy who loves being held and that is more important than the other stuff for now.
{Days 25, 26, 27 & 28}

These past 4 weeks have been beautiful, crazy, emotional, and exhausting.
I am sad his first month has gone by so quickly.
I better start planning his 1st birthday party.
Kidding. Kind of....I already have his theme picked out.
Yes, I have issues :)

Linking up here:
life rearranged

9.05.2012

Goodbye, Summer 2012


Summer 2012, It was a good one.
Even though school started last week, I always declare Labor Day Weekend as the official end of summer.
We finished up our 2012 Summer List over Labor Day Weekend.
Out of 32 items on our list, we completed 30.
This is the best we have done (probably because this is the only summer haven't gone on vacation (since Luke was due in August, we didn't plan any trips)
We were home a lot & were able to get most of the items checked off.
The only 2 we didn't get done were:
Have a Lemonade Stand & Pick fresh fruit.

Here are some of our highlights from our Summer List 2012:
Make Homemade Strawberry Jam:
4th of July Pool Party & Sausage Fest:
Going to the Beach:
Going to the Fair:
Link
Make Sidewalk Paint (SO fun & easy! Tutorial coming soon!)
Make S'mores (I like my s'mores with Reeces PB Cups)

And watch a movie on the lawn!
The Daddy-Daughter Backyard Movie & Camping Night was a hit!
They did this over Labor Day weekend & it will now be an annual tradition and a great way to end summer.

My highlight of the summer list & my favorite thing I checked off was have a baby
(and finally find out if it is a boy or girl!)
Hooray for Luke joining our family!
It was a great summer & a most memorable one!
Now, bring on the Fall....My most favorite time of year!

9.02.2012

First week of Kindergarten + Back to School Printable

I want to thank each of you who left a comment on my last post.
Thank you for the encouragement & for letting me know I am not along about being scared/anxious/excited about Kate starting Kindergarten.
The first week of Kindergarten is in the books and it has been great!
Kate absolutely loves it.
Words straight from her mouth....
"Kindergarten is awesome!"
 The first day was only 2 hours long and the parents stayed the entire time
(so, the 2nd day of school was really the first "real" day of school)
Her teacher (who we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE)
 Her teacher had a cute classroom scavenger hunt for the students & parents to do as a way to get to know the classroom.
2 of my favorite quotes from the week were:
1. On Thursday, their class had music. Kate said she couldn't wait to go to music class because, "I just know we are going to sing Jesus Loves Me, that is the best song!"
We had to explain to Kate that she goes to a public school and that they probably won't sing that song in music class. Doh.
2. Kate really wants homework (crazy kid). On Friday, she said to me:
"I can't believe I have been in Kindergarten for a week & I still don't have homework. I just really want to do homework. I have been waiting all summer for it."Oh, Kate. I hope you have that enthusiasm about homework when you are in middle school & high school.

We decided to make Kate's teacher some cookies as a way to let her know that we are excited to be in her class. I made my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, put them in a mason jar & stuck it in a brown lunch bag with some washi tape.
In the lunch bag, I also included a little questionnaire for her teacher that I made.
I saw a similar idea on Pinterest, but wanted to make my own version of it.
Kate's teacher gave it back to us the next day all filled out.
I think it turned out so cute, so I thought I would share it with you so you can give it to your kid's teachers to fill out! It makes giving them gifts so much easier if you know what they like!
{Click to download. Right click & then Save.}Hope you are having a great Labor Day weekend & Happy Back to School!
Linking up HERE and HERE


LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin