family time

historically in our family, we haven't had much family time. derek and i work opposite schedules, so it makes it hard for us to be together as a family on a regular basis. the biggest benefit to working opposite schedules is that our kids have needed little to no child care over the past four years, and they get to have a lot of alone time with their daddy, something most children don't get to have.

for the past four months, i've been blessed to be able to stay home with jonah, abbie, and caleb. this has been such an amazing gift, and i'm sad it will be ending soon. it has been wonderful, not only because i get to spend every waking moment with their sweet (and sometimes not so sweet) faces, but because we have felt like a real family...with real family time. we have learned that it's something we need, something we were missing! this was last sunday (please excuse the 45,000 pictures)...just a walk through our neighborhood...but a day filled with happiness, and silliness, and real family fun. so, even though my time being a "stay at home mom" is quickly coming to an end, we will do our best to deliberately carve out meaningful family time like this.

girl time

jonah, my four-year-old, started preschool a few months ago. it was one of the hardest things i have experienced as a mom, because i didn't want to give up my time with him...but it has become one of my favorite times of the day. no, it is not because i realize life is calmer with only two children, because believe me, it's not. here's why...preschool is three days a week from 12:30-3:30, which happens to be the exact time that caleb, my 7-month-old takes his nap. so, i get to spend those three hours with my little girl, abigail. it is nearly impossible to carve out daily individual time with each child, especially middle children, so i am so grateful for this consistent window of mommy-daughter time. somehow we always end up playing with the brightly-colored, predominantly pink, sparkly, and "slightly more domestic" toys. together we feed her baby dolls, cook and bake, have tea parties, go on picnics, sing and dance, go shopping, dress up her dolls, and wear high heels as we carry around babies and handbags. now, those of you who know me, know that this is a stretch for me. i am nowhere near a "girly girl," but my abbie is girly, dramatic, sweet, and beautiful to the core. she is always in heals, with a purse in one hand, a sparkly wand in the other, a crown on her head, strutting through the house, calling herself "princess abbie." so, i do miss having jonah home all the time, but it's rare that a mom of three gets to have this much fun with her princess! i am loving every sparkly, pink, high-heeled minute of it!

just in case the pictures weren't enough, here is abbie singing happy birthday to her doll. at the end of the video she started to have an imaginary conversation  that had something to do with "mommy, daddy, and jojo want to go home" (you can catch a slight glimpse of the dramatic girl that she is)...and then she noticed i was watching her and flashed her cute smile. i love this little girl!

sorry!, baby number two

the other day derek was reading abbie a book and we both became keenly aware that she does not know her colors. i mean, i know we constantly use color words, but i guess i haven't explicitly taught her colors (like i am sure i did with jonah). i notice this with a lot of things. the second child just doesn't quite get the level of instruction that the first did. with baby number one, we are on our game as parents. we buy every educational book, toy, and spend the few sleeping moments we have at night dreaming of the ways we can make snacks and day trips and playtime educational...we make every moment into a teaching moment. with baby number two (and all subsequent children) those dreams of teaching moments fly quickly out the window. your moments are consumed with feeding two babies two different meals, potty training baby number one while constantly bathing baby number two because of massive diaper blow-outs, providing equal amounts of cuddle time for both babies (so as to not upset baby number one's jealousy bones),  keeping baby number one from attacking baby number two with hugs and kisses and the germs that come with those hugs and kisses, and bracing yourself for the inevitable scream fest where both babies simultaneously feel the need to express their dissatisfaction with your parenting skills. so in those moments when i realize that my second baby is educationally deprived, i quickly do something like...pull out sorry! and play as a family, making sure to name every number and color as we encounter them.

so, we play...and name colors...and count...and identify numbers...and after about 7 minutes baby number one and baby number two have abandoned the game and are rolling on the floor tickling each other. teaching moment officially over! so what if every color is "poe-poe" (purple). those joyful giggles echoing through the house are the reason we decided to have baby number two in the first place. i'm happy to give up those teaching moments for these ones filled with joy and laughter!