Willow is growing...

10 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks

Willow is 11 weeks old today, and I can't begin to say how much I'm enjoying her. She is mellow and laid back, never cries unless she needs something, and loves to cuddle with her mommy. She has also really started to smile a lot at anyone who gives her attention in the last couple weeks. We've even heard a few giggles - Heaven!

I am amazed at how fast she is growing. I kinda expected her to be more like Journey and have her age follow her growth, but she is actually much more like Aspen. At 11 weeks she is maxing out all her 6 month jammies and one piece outfits in length. She is 13 lbs. 8 oz. and has a few rolls, but is just really long. She still looks more like Aspen to me. It's fun seeing her grow and her personality start to come out. Both Aspen and Journey are in love with her as ever, and fight over who she loves more almost daily.

She goes down to bed around 7:30pm, just after Aspen and Journey. I feel so blessed to have them all down and asleep by 8pm. At 10 weeks she had two nights where she slept 9 hours and then 10 hours straight. That hasn't lasted, but she does generally sleep an 8 hour stretch at night.

I can definitely deal with waking up once a night!

She still spits up a lot, but with the reflux meds, she is sleeping much, much better, and that has made life so much calmer and easier. I am loving the crazy, busy life of three kids so much!

My Big KINDERGARTENER!

John 17:15-19

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world even as I am not of it.

Sanctify them by your truth. As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself that they too may be truly sanctified.

Up until Aspen was three years old, there was no question in my mind that we would put our children in private school. Mark was more neutral on the subject, but it was something that I was very adamant about. That is, until one of my good friends sent me an email outlining why they chose public school. It was so well written and thought out that it really challenged me. I started to ask God what He wanted us to do. Simple in theory, but it was really hard for me to question a decision that I had made long before even having kids.

After much thought and prayer, I felt that God led me to the above scripture. Honestly, I was kind of disappointed! I made a note of the scripture and then let it rest. Who wants to have to change direction? It's humbling. Over time, as I came back to the scripture over and over, I felt more peace about it.

I wish I could say that I never question whether I heard God right when it comes to this, but so far, I'm happy with the decision to send him to public school. Aspen loves it (a huge answer to prayer), and I haven't seen any attitude or behavior changes since he's started school. Our first parent/teacher conferences are next week, and I'm really looking forward to getting his teacher's perspective on how he is doing. Aspen doesn't say a lot about what they do in his class, and I haven't been able to volunteer in his classroom yet so I feel like I know much about what they do.

Finding time to just be silly. Life can be so serious. Especially with Aspen. Sometimes it feels like we spend most of our time either refereeing arguments or punishing them. He can be so antagonistic (apple doesn't fall far from the tree...). It's highly frustrating and something we are still trying to find a solution to that works. Unfortunately, the satisfaction he gets out of making Journey scream seems to outweigh the punishments so far.

But.........I think we have happened on a solution.......if we can be consistent with it that is.....CHORES!

Something I ask Aspen many times a day is "are you choosing to cause stress or peace?" Of course the answer is generally stress. Well, now the consequence for causing stress is to add peace back to the house by doing chores. Because a cleaner house = a more peaceful house, right?

Sounds genius, huh? He's busy for 15 -20 minutes, unable to bug Journey and I'm getting a cleaner house!

It all sounds so great until you are here and have to implement the consequence. Let's just say there's a lot of drama. Crying, screaming, begging for another chance, refusing to do it, etc. So, that's why I say that I think we've found a solution if we can stay strong and consistent.

Here's kind of how it goes:

By the time we came home from church on Sunday Aspen had earned himself the privilege of vacuuming his room, Journey's room, our room and closet, plus the hallway. Quite a bit of work for a five year old.

Mark and I had to laugh as the drama unfolded when we sent him upstairs to vacuum. He spent the first five minutes crying as loudly as possible (it's too much work! it's going to take me forever! i can't do it!, etc.). Next, he decided he better get started, but of course could not do it without a little more drama. We heard him stop crying, turn the vacuum on and start vacuuming the first room. But minutes later the vacuum went off and he walked back into the hallway (where he knew we could hear him) and again began crying as loudly as possible. He worked that for a few minutes until he realized that he wasn't getting a response, and went back in to finish. This cycle repeated itself a few times before he got down to work and fairly quickly completed the rest of the rooms.

We've been working on being consistent with this and I think things may be getting a tiny bit better. I am enjoying a cleaner house though! I haven't vacuumed in quite awhile :)

Willow n' Me

Willow is almost 8 weeks old. The last eight weeks have not been the easiest, but things are getting easier as time goes on. She was diagnosed with reflux at 4 weeks and went on medication. Thankfully, she has never cried a lot, but she just is not able to stay asleep because of the acid coming up all the time. There have been many, many days where she has only slept an hour total all day...

Following that, I did some research and have eliminated dairy from my diet to help with the reflux. Wow, it's been hard! I've been missing cheese, chocolate, ice cream, my Coffee's On mochas, and just the normal things like pancakes and waffles. My only saving grace has been lactose free milk, which has enabled me to continue having my morning lattes. Unfortunately, doing more research tonight, I found out that I need to cut even that out because it is usually the milk protein that babies are allergic to, not the lactose. Boo!

The only thing that keeps me going is that I have seen a big difference in Willow since cutting out all the dairy. She is much more relaxed and sleeps easier (although it's still a day to day thing).

I know, because I had a few bites of dairy a couple days ago and had a nightmare day the next day!

She is also becoming more interactive, smiling and "talking" which we are all loving. So far, I think she is really going to be a daddy's girl. She loves to try to get Mark's attention, and smiles the most at him. Much different than Journey was as a baby. She was all about mommy :)

Despite all the reflux and sleeping issues, Willow is an incredibly sweet baby who loves to be snuggled close. I'm trying to enjoy all the time I have with her. It's going so fast already.

Just An Avalanche of Pictures

I'm so thankful she likes the swing. The only problem is trying to keep Journey out of her face.

Aspen and Journey playing in the trailer at Grammi and Papa's house. Their "fort".

"walking the dog" Journey's favorite toy at Grammi and Papa's

Journey "loving" Willow. Yes, it gets a little rough at times!

I love the newborn phase when they fold up on your chest and sleep. So snuggly.

Proud big brother

5 weeks old

My adorable niece and nephew ~ Peyton 2 and Lilly 4 months

At the height of Willow's not sleeping and my exhaustion, Charity offered to take Aspen and Journey overnight so that I could get a break. They had a blast with their cousins staying up late, playing video games, sleeping in the same room together. What great memories they are building.

All the girls ~ Journey 2 1/2, Willow 6 weeks and Ava 2 years old, and coming soon, Zoe!

Bath time! I can see a few rolls starting :)

I'm so thankful she takes a binky. Journey didn't and it was so hard to get her to fall asleep.

Life Right Now

I don't have any new pictures to post. This one was taken from Mark's i-phone, thus the quality. My camera broke about a week ago....waahhh! Of course it happens at the time where Willow is changing almost daily. So frustrating.

Anyways, Willow is now 4 weeks old. Honestly, I feel like I am treading water. Just trying to get used to all the changes to our lives over the past few weeks. Aspen has started Kindergarten (another post on that to come) which has me running him to and from school every morning. Hours and hours of my day are spent feeding Willow, and it seems like the rest of the time is spent trying to get her to go to sleep. So far it's very rare that I am been able to get Willow to nap without a ride in the car. Today, I actually thought up an errand to do just so that I could get her to sleep. Something I never thought I'd ever do! Yes, I was desperate for a quiet sleeping baby.

Aspen and Journey are slowly adjusting to our new, slower pace of life. They are used to being much more on the go, and seem to get bored and then on each other's nerves a lot more lately. Hmmm, now that I think of it, I guess they are used to getting more of my attention too...

So that's where life is at for us right now. Mark has been a huge help to me taking Aspen and Journey out on errands, to dinner or OMSI to give me a break, making dinner and even doing some grocery shopping. All this has lead me to lean on God's strength in a new way (which really is not a bad thing...).

I lift up my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The maker of heaven and earth.

Three!

Yep, they are loving their new little sister.

Actually, words can not describe how much Journey loves Willow. She's the first thing she asks about each morning and after naps. Every time she sees Willow, she is so overwhelmed with love and emotion that she holds her breath until she shakes (yes, really!). It's hard to explain, but I'm hoping to get it on video. I've been having to keep a close eye on Journey around Willow because I've caught her trying to carry her!

Journey just discovered her jewlery stash and had to try them all on. Love my girly girl :)

I'm amazed that I was able to get good pics of all three!

My sweet Willow ~ 2 weeks old

Willow's First Week

It's amazing how slow the first three weeks of August seemed to go by, and how fast the last nine days have flown. I've been desperately trying to savor each moment with Willow, especially the first couple days when it was just her and I. I wish I could soak up her sweet newness and remember it all, but life with three is busy and no matter how hard you try to hold on to today, it just slips away!

2 days old

2 days old

4 days old

Cousins ~ Journey 2 1/2 years, Lilly 2 1/2 mo. & Willow 6 days old

7 days old ~ reminds me of a picture of Aspen I have at this age

8 days old

9 days old

I am so thankful for my mom and dad. They took Aspen and Journey to the beach with them after I had Willow so that I could have some time to recover and spend time with just her.

Mark went to the beach early Tuesday morning to do some fishing and spend some time with the kids, and I joined them on Wednesday evening (Willow was 4 days old). At that point, I felt recovered enough from the birth to go to the beach and was really missing Aspen and Journey. Even before I was able to get out of my car, I could hear Aspen and Journey running through the house screaming my name. They had missed me as much or more than I had missed them! They couldn't stop hugging me and loving on me, and I couldn't help but cry (and cry now as I remember it!)

It was a great way to ease into having three kids since I had the help of my mom and Diana. Both the kids have done great with Willow and I haven't seen any resentment or jealousy at all. Journey loves to hold her, kiss her and is very protective of "her baby" with other kids around.

We stayed at the beach until Saturday. Mark was very happy to get in three days of fishing that week since he had been banned from fishing until Willow's birth :)

Willow is a great baby. She is very mellow and even at 11 days old, sleeps pretty much all the time. Unless she is hungry, she doesn't cry. I didn't think I could get this lucky twice in a row! Night times have been a little rough because she doesn't always want to stay asleep, but I'm not complaining. The reason I choose to go through all the pain of a natural child birth is to up my odds of having a happy, peaceful baby (baby doesn't get the drugs in her system). I'm going to start working on getting her on more of a schedule (school starts next week, but that's a different post...) and hopefully that will make the nights easier.

Willow's our little doll baby, and the whole family is in love with her :)